A recipe for good health and success

MANILA, Philippines - Inosphil, which has for the past 10 years continuously supplied excellent cooking products for Filipino families, starts its second decade with the aim of continuing its campaign to improve Filipinos’ cooking style by using safe, sturdy and economical products that leads to a healthier body and a happier life.

The company that was started on March 1, 2001 has indeed grown. Like many successful groups, Inosphil started small. Its first office was a tiny room with two desks and a telephone. Its chairman, Chang Kyu Kim and president/CEO, Josephine G. Cunanan, had only two personnel. But with their true grit, determination, patience and hard work, Inos grew. The small room was replaced with a bigger one, until the company was able to lease three units at the Cityland Shaw Tower in Mandaluyong City. The staff of two grew. Last year, Inos had 26 employees at its head office in Mandaluyong, a sprawling warehouse in Marikina, delivery vehicles and hundreds of distributors nationwide.

Steering the company was not easy, Cunanan admits. Especially since she knew nothing about handling a business.

During the early years, there were days when she’d ask herself if her sacrifices will ever pay off. And there were nights she couldn’t sleep, wondering how she can promote her products better, or what strategies to adopt to motivate her employees, dealers and service center managers to boost sales. Perhaps if she didn’t believe in the quality of their products, Cunanan would have given up on the fifth year.

Her persistence paid off

The first five years was particularly bad. We had cookware just sitting in the warehouse, not moving. Sales were down, and it was at that point that I almost gave up, Cunanan recalls.

Her belief that they have an excellent product stopped her from throwing in the towel.

I wanted homemakers to discover the joy and convenience of my kind of cooking. I wanted them to know that quality cookware does not cost a fortune. I saw how my family was benefitting healthwise from greaseless and oil-less cooking, and I wanted other families to enjoy these benefits too. I wanted housewives to forgo their deadly way of cooking using too much oil, too much salt, and cooking their meal on unhealthy cookware that cracks and chips, such as those non-stick pans that are made of plastic. When the non-stick coating starts chipping, the enamel is mixed with the food. If this happens repeatedly, think what will happen to that family. Getting mothers to change their way of cooking was my biggest challenge, Cunanan said.

When her business partner handed her full rein of the company, Cunanan had to handle all aspects of the business. She took a crash course in accounting, bookkeeping and personnel management. When problems started cropping up in the entry of their shipment, she would go to China (where they source their products) herself.

In line with the company’s campaign to promote healthy cooking, all of Inos’ recipes do not contain oil. This is because Inos cookware allows frying without oil, cooking with less water or no water, grilling without charcoal, and baking without an oven. These qualities always leave people who witness their cooking demos amazed. It was their recipe to good health.

And so, little by little, Inos grew. Sales teams were created and deployed to all provinces and different parts of Metro Manila. Cunanan and her team had to work harder.

I felt responsible not only to my family, but the families of my employees. If the company folded up, they would lose their jobs. I did not want that to happen, Cunanan said.

When her staff could not handle all requests for cooking demos, she would conduct demos herself. When sales would dip in a particular area, she would call the attention of the concerned sales team. The company was on its way up.

Ondoy victim

But the business again slumped after typhoon Ondoy devastated Metro Manila.

I thought this time I would lose all, Cunanan said. All of our stocks were in our Marikina warehouse.

When floodwaters were inches away from the warehouse, Cunanan and her staff stranded in their Mandaluyong office held hands and prayed. The warehouse and their products were spared, but rising up from the financial havoc wreaked by Ondoy was a frightful challenge. The economy was down. Most businesses were on their knees. Many people lost their homes, belongings, some, their jobs. Cunanan knew it would be a long while before things return to normal.

After what happened, I am certain nothing and no one can stop me now, Cunanan said. I’ve been through the worst. I can face any problem now.”