Lambanog with oomph!

CNN’s Maria Ressa was having a drink in a Makati bar when a friend prodded her to try a new drink called Malice. He told her it was a local drink made by two sexy women. Seeing its stylish black packaging and getting a taste of the fruity lambanog flavor, the CNN reporter was impressed enough to file a story about this proudly Philippine made product. Miren Padilla and Sharbette Baranda, the twenty-something sexy women (they are the models in their provocative ads) behind the drink, were only on their first year of business when they got their five minutes on international television.

Belonging to a family of entrepreneurs, coming up with her own business venture came naturally to Miren. At the time of the Centennial of Philippine independence, Miren’s oldest brother and owner of the yuppie bar Padi’s Point picked her brains to create some excitement in his bars. It occurred to his helpful younger sister that there was potential marketing the local poor man’s spirit, lambanog.

"Lambanog is to the Philippines as vodka is to Russia and tequila to Mexico," she says. Lambanog is known throughout the country for packing a punch without causing a hangover. Unlike vodka, tequila or sake, however, our lambanog had never been professionally manufactured and marketed. Realizing that most Filipinos don’t think too highly of this spirit made from the unopened coconut bud’s sap, Miren thought of adding value to make it more marketable.

Thus was Malice, a coco liquor alco-pop, born in November 2000. Christened "Malice" because of its deceptive quality, it has no bitter alcoholic aftertaste, hence drinkers are fooled into thinking it is a mild, harmless drink. In fact, it is anything but harmless: only later will they feel the hit of its five percent alcohol content. Each bottle contains about two shots or the equivalent of dalawang tagay to the experienced lambanog drinker. The sweet apple flavor and the subtle green color make Malice perfectly agreeable to ladies.

In fact, Malice was specifically created with Miren and other females like her in mind. She liked to go to bars for a drink, but was not satisfied with the drinks available. Vodka and tequila were too potent for her, and she didn’t like the bitter taste of beer. Cocktails were inconsistent in quality. She was looking for a delicious tasting beverage which she could savor throughout the evening, instead of downing it in one shot.

Apparently, many 18- to 30-year-old Filipino women shared Miren’s drinking sentiments. Malice’s Apple Temptation immediately became a hit and a favorite ladies’ drink. Six months later, Miren’s company Beverage Innovations came up with Kalibog. Its provocative and playful name refers to the "Kalamansi and Lambanog" cocktail frequently ordered at Padi’s Point, now sold in a vibrant red bottle. Positioned to kick in a punch for men, even its tagline dares, "Kalibog ka na ba?" (Are you aroused?)

Again, it became a hit, prompting Beverage Innovations to once more innovate. This resulted in Malice’s second flavor, Citrus Sensation, which hit the bars six months later. Being locally produced, all three bottled spirits were competitively priced at less than half of imported counterparts.

Consistent with the company’s name, Miren and Shar have not stopped innovating. Recently, they answered the demand of bars for more affordable locally produced tonic water and soda water for mixed drinks and cocktails with the creation of Aqua Pop.

Miren and Beverage Innovations have gone a long way since humble beginnings in 2000. Giving up her job as one of Proctor and Gamble’s brand managers, she bravely embarked on starting the business alone. She conceptualized, tested, concocted and sold the product herself. She bursts into gregarious laughter remembering how she almost burned down her mom’s house. While formulating the drink, she carelessly used her mouse pad as a hot pad, and it caught fire. Luckily, only the mouse pad and some books were burned.

But nothing could stop her from doing anything and everything for her business. Miren even drove her mom’s Pajero to personally deliver orders and acted as a promo girl at events, giving free samples of Malice and Kalibog. To prevent igniting more fires in her mom’s home, she asked Shar, a colleague specializing in research & development at Proctor and Gamble, to join her in the business and take care of the production side of things.

The partnership has kept the flame of their enterprising passions for Kalibog and Malice ignited. Shar recalls the early days of the business when going to the office meant conducting business in Miren’s bedroom, turning it into a makeshift laboratory complete with distillation apparatus. Bottling the drinks then meant asking the help of the Padilla household helpers.

Miren and Shar no longer conduct business in the bedroom, thanks to the more professional office in the Padilla lot in San Juan. They now have three production lines in a plant that is quadruple its original size, plus a warehouse and delivery trucks. Best of all, Miren is glad she can now hire people–now numbering 27–to sell, deliver and work as promo girls instead of doing it all herself.

Their bottles of sophisticated lambanog reach as far north as Tuguegarao and Laoag, south to Bicol as well as Cebu and Davao. Prior to 9-11, their products were even being exported to Las Vegas. Aside from the bar scene taking notice, local business groups have likewise been wowed by the success of Beverage Innovations, which received the Packaging Excellence Award from the Packaging Institute of the Philippines in 2001, Best Innovative Beverage Brand from the 2002 National Consumer Excellence Awards and the Top Innovative Beverage Brand of the Year at the 2002 Year Ender Excellence Awards.

But all this recognition are just icing on the cake. For Miren, the fulfillment of living her childhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur is sweet success in itself.

"The fulfillment comes from bringing about something," she explains. "If you were not there, it would not have happened. You were able to carve out something of your own, unlike working in a multinational company, (where) you can be replaced when you leave. If Shar and I were not here, Malice and Kalibog would not have been here. We wouldn’t have 27 employees to give jobs to or suppliers we give livelihood to. We wouldn’t have innovated lambanog, or inspired others. We were able to do so many things because of this business."

That’s a whole lot of oomph they’ve given to their drinks; how can CNN not take notice?