'Mano po' star David Licauco opened 4 food businesses during the pandemic
MANILA, Philippines — If you frequently hang out on social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram, you have probably seen one of Kapuso stars David Licauco’s photos.
Netizens would often laud him for his good looks and well-maintained physique.
A “boy-next-door” to some, the Chinito heartthrob's posts, whether a random selfie, a topless photo or a fashion shot rakes in thousands of likes and hundreds of praises. You would think that with this vast social media presence now that he is an award-winning actor, a model, a basketball player and a businessman would make him ooze with confidence.
But if you meet David, that’s not the case.
“Sorry, medyo pangit ako ngayon e,” he said, while combing his hair by hand before we started our virtual interview.
He explained that he just got off a meeting on a Monday afternoon.
You could then tell that he is a busy man.
Building a food empire
At 26, David, who graduated from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde with a degree in Business Management major in Computer Applications, is currently juggling showbusiness with four new food businesses namely, As Nature Intended, Sobra Comfort Food, 25th Burgers and Kuya Korea.
Maybe entrepreneurship is in his veins. Born to a Filipino-Chinese family, his parents both run their respective businesses.
David shared that he entered culinary ventures since his mother is into franchising and has been running franchised restaurants for 15 years now.
In 2019, David said he also had his first business franchise of a Turks Shawarma stall in Valenzuela City.
He rekindled his love for food entrepreneurship last year when the country was placed on lockdown.
“During the pandemic, we’re all bored. I would say it made me think. I was able to think. I tried reading books. I was just so bored that I used my brain,” David told Philstar.com.
“Pre-pandemic, my focus was really showbusiness. And then COVID happened, and then, of course, you can’t leave yourself depressed so from there I was trying to look for opportunities,” he said in English and Filipino.
As Nature Intended
The GMA artist said that he then enrolled in marketing courses which led him to create his first business, As Nature Intended, during the pandemic. It is an e-grocery store, which he described as a one-stop shop for anything healthy.
“I’m a healthy guy. I would like to think that. I just said I want something healthy, like Healthy Options, because I am into healthy stuff. I just want to offer healthy alternatives like healthy cookies and healthy chips,” David said.
As easy as it sounded, for David, setting up online food businesses was a hard path to pursue. He admitted that despite being in a family of businessmen, he does not know enough about business operations.
Before starting his online grocery, he said he called a supplier who ended up ignoring him.
“He is just shrugging me off. I’m like ‘OMG, what I did was shameful,” David said in mixed English and Filipino, referring to contacting a supplier.
However, when he finally started the e-commerce business, suppliers are now the ones reaching out to him.
“Once you start, make sure that you will learn along the way and you will figure things out and that’s what happened so that’s the story of As Nature Intended,” he said.
The hardships David experienced in building his e-grocery did not stop him from creating three other food ventures.
David is the epitome of his motto “try and try until you succeed” as he has tried many endeavors in life.
Prior to showbiz, he joined the Filipino-Chinese pageant, Mr. Chinatown 2014. He did not win and finished first runner-up, but this opened doors for his modeling and acting career.
“That’s a weird line but it’s true,” David said, referring to his old school motto.
“When you’re in high school and college some will laugh at you if you say that because that’s everyone’s motto. But when you enter the real world, you’d realize it’s true,” he added in English and Filipino.
Sobra Comfort Food
Once David sets his eyes on something, he just does it—just like his second pandemic business, Sobra Comfort Food. It’s an online food delivery service offering food that makes one happy and all-day breakfast meals born out of an Instagram post.
David said he just saw an enticing photo of his favorite food beef tapa on the photo-sharing app and thought of making a business out of it.
“I thought ‘Wow, this is okay for business. Something Instagrammable.’ Imagine that’s what I first thought of as a business idea—something Instagrammable,” he laughed.
This idea was later pitched to his friend during a drinking session. He took it seriously and looked for a chef to conceptualize the food business.
It took him and his business partners months of research and development before they finally let the public taste their offerings.
David said it was initially a struggle due to the business being based online.
“It’s not so easy kasi walang foot traffic. So, you really need good pictures, great marketing strategy. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is your product,” he said.
More than a year since it was conceived, David is happy to share that they are now in negotiations to build the first-ever physical store of Sobra Comfort Food at Molito Lifestyle Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
25th Burgers
Sobra Comfort Food paved the way for his third food venture during the pandemic—an online burger store, 25th Burgers.
David shared that he sent meals to actor turned restaurateur Marvin Agustin for promotion.
“One day, he called me up, he liked our food... he asked me to partner up with him and then it happened,” the actor-businessman said.
This deal with Marvin was the longest research and development process he underwent.
Because Marvin has been in the food and beverage industry for so long, David learned a lot from him—from strategies on food menus to the marketing side of the business.
Kuya Korea
On a roll, David did not stop with three food concepts. Just in November, he opened Kuya Korea, an online store delivering Korean bowls and chicken.
This business was conceived after his milk tea place in Valenzuela City closed.
He thought of creating something that could be franchised.
“It started with sisig bowls. But I wasn’t satisfied with our creations. I told the chef, ‘I’m not sure about this and so we’re back to zero,” David shared in English and Filipino.
Fortunately, he came across the thought of combining one of Filipinos’ favorite Korean food samgyeopsal and rice and made his vision come to life.
Among these food businesses, however, David said As Nature Intended is the closest to his heart and what he considers his “baby.”
He shared that he was very hands-on for that business to the point that he personally delivers the orders to customers.
Even his on-screen partner on the TV series “Heartful Café,” Julie Ann San Jose, agrees that David is a dedicated businessman.
“Whenever we’re taping, he is still managing his business. He’s always on the phone. He’s good at multi-tasking,” Julie Ann said in a virtual interview on Kapuso ArtisTambayan in June.
Finding Zen
Even if he is good at multitasking, David is working on having one focus. Through as Nature Intended, he learned about that.
“I think we really need to know how to be super focused. One at a time, be in the moment. Basically, like meditating,” he said, adding that his e-grocery business made him so stressed forcing him to learn about meditation.
While he juggles his food businesses and his acting projects, David is managing by meditating his way out of it.
“It’s tiring,” David admits, referring to his daily to-do lists. He showed scripts he is studying. It was for his upcoming television program, an adaptation of blockbuster movie franchise “Mano Po,” which he would star with GMA’s “Primetime Princess,” Barbie Forteza. "Mano Po Legacy: The Family Fortune" would air on the Kapuso Network starting Jan. 3, 2022.
David, who during the interview with Philstar.com, was about to enter the lock-in taping, enumerated three things that keep him busy.
These are: workout, citing that his fit physique is an investment, managing his businesses and attending several meetings.
“I am struggling but that’s just how it is. What I do is I meditate. I look for videos that podcast that would fire my motivation,” David shared.
For each of his roles in life, David uses podcasts and videos as inspiration.
Whenever he goes to the gym, he listens to motivating podcasts. He then listens to his favorite Spotify podcast account, the Founder, which turns on his business mode. To activate his showbiz side, on the other hand, he watches videos of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Despite his packed schedule, David said he sees to it that he still has his social life. On Saturdays, he goes on a drinking session with his friends to get a sense of normalcy.
This is when he would stop talking about his business and himself.
Bowing out from hard drinks like tequila, David said he now enjoys red wine— a sign of maturity, according to him.
Ball is life... or not?
While he manages to keep his social life, David has to let go of some things including his love for basketball. After all, his plate is already full.
Not known to many, David was the shooting guard of CSB Blazers back in college. He continued to play basketball until recently.
“I was supposed to join a team in the ongoing FilBasket. But then, my schedule can’t take it anymore. I should also study ‘Mano Po’ script,” the actor said.
“I think even if I love basketball very much, I had to let it go… parang jowa lang,” he said in jest.
Since David is now busy as a bee, he said that as much as he wants to conceptualize a new food product, he will stop for now. Instead, he would just focus on branch expansion with the opening of physical stores of Sobra Comfort food and Kuya Korea lined up in malls next year.
“I was listening to this podcast which said, ‘you can’t be in two toilets at the same time.’ This makes sense. You just have to focus on one or two, but now I have four so how would I seat on four toilets?” he joked.
To those who would want to follow in his footsteps and open a business while the COVID-19 pandemic is still in a rage, David’s advice is to focus on building up the product and learning what the public wants.
No matter how good one’s marketing, operations and branding are, at the end of the day, it’s the product that would bring the business to success, he said.
“It’s all about finding pain points or what people want and then develop it and turn it into a business,” David said.
‘Surreal’
For David, success in the food business needs one to become an open book and willing to learn every day. He doesn’t want to settle.
Even as he speaks about success, David said he feels like he hasn’t reached the pinnacle yet.
He recently won the “New Movie Actor of the Year award” for his role in the 2019 film, “Because I Love You at the 36th PMPC Star Awards.
In his speech, he said this victory felt “surreal” as he never even imagined seeing himself on television.
In the future, when he’s more successful, David said he wants to be remembered for helping other people.
“I don’t want my legacy to become a cliché and be perceived as feeling cool and kind. But one day, if I have means to help other people, whether it’s financial or whatever, I would want that,” he said in English and Filipino.
For now, he just uses his platform to reach out to fans and make them happy.
“At the end of the day, I’m still a public figure and I have a platform to spread happiness and to entertain so I try my best to make the most out of it,” he concluded.
