I SPENT a really productive Saturday marveling at the genius of Filipino entrepreneurs and crafts people.
Launched on October 11 was Bayani Chocolates, a new line of products from chocopreneur Raul Matias, CEO of Latitude Eight Confectionary Corp., which has been producing the popular Manila Chocolatier pralines. ‘I made Bayani to honor the hero in every Filipino,’ he said, which rings so true, especially at this moment in time.
We’ve all heard it or read variations of current views by Filipinos, in the light of investigations into ghost or substandard flood-control projects-kayod ng kayod tayo ng patas, pero ang nakikinabang sa buwis natin puro magnanakaw na kontratista at mga mambabatas.
No one has benefited more from our taxes than corrupt lawmakers and contractors of government projects. And yet we keep on, fighting, striving, trying to cope with whatever challenges life throws at us, and just trying to do right by our families. Yes, damn it! We are heroes.
Matias is equally heroic in that he tries to bring the unique flavors of the Philippines into his chocolates, even though he does use imported cacao and blends them with local sources, mostly from the Davao Region. (The latter falls along latitude eight, the so-called cacao belt, which explains Matias’s company name. Like other cacao producers in the world, Davao lies approximately eight degrees of the equator; other countries include the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, as well as parts of Indonesia.)
The Manila Chocolatier pralines has flavors that remind me of pleasant afternoons spent in the kitchen with my lola, as she whipped up banana cue for merienda, or leche flan for that evening’s dessert. There are also heritage flavors such as Barako Coffee, Lambanog, Panocha, and the like.
For Bayani, Matias goes international using almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts, and offering flavors like Strawberry Cheese white chocolate and Redwine milk chocolate, or Champagne dark chocolate. To me, it means Filipinos are just as good, competent and, yes, heroic, as any citizen of the world.
Bayani is currently sold in packs of three featuring classic flavors of Dark, White and Milk Chocolate, as well as in a gift box of nine, which includes the classic series, as well as those with the nuts and the cake flavor. (I confess I’ve been savoring the dark chocolates, which goes well with coffee, or red wine. They are deliciously smooth, with a slight hint of bitter and sweetness.)
For now, Bayani is sold at Spatio at Opus Mall in Bridgetowne, Quezon City, while the Manila Chocolatier pralines are available at your nearest Kultura at SM branch. But Matias said he also plans to sell Bayani in the US in popular stores like Trader Joe’s, instead of the usual Filipino/Asian stores, where most Filipinos get their Pinoy favorites. This way, it becomes available to a wider mainstream market.
Matias also said he hopes that he will be able to buy more cacao from local producers that will meet his standards of 7 to 8 days of fermentation to make his world-class confectionery. ‘Most of them are fermented in three-four days, which is more acidic, that’s why you will notice in some local chocolates, they are bitter,’ he explained. These quickly fermented cacao are often used to make tablea, he said.
Which is unfortunate, since the Philippines produces criollo, the most expensive cacao variety in the world, a pure cacao variety introduced by the Spaniards in the 1600s. Because of its rarity and delicateness in cultivation, it has been listed in the Slow Food Foundation’s Ark of Taste as an heirloom cultivar that is in danger of being lost, as most cacao farmers turn to the faster-growing hybrids.
Thus, Matias appealed to the government to help local cacao farmers increase their production. Many of them are still backyard or small producers who cultivate cacao mostly for their family’s use to make the morning ‘sikwate.’
Last year, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu P. Laurel Jr. announced a project to revitalize the Philippine cacao industry through his department’s High-Value Crops Development Program. Targeting over 74,000 cacao farmers, the project will include ‘the provision of cacao planting materials and farm inputs, conduct of capacity-building initiatives for cacao farmers and extension workers, establishment of cacao technology demonstration sites, distribution of farm machinery and equipment, and construction of irrigation facilities.’
While Tiu Laurel didn’t say how much funds will be allocated to the project, hopefully this is the right impetus to push the Philippine cacao industry into hyperdrive, and help the country take its rightful place as one of the best sources of cacao in the world.
THAT Saturday I also dropped by the Likhang Habi Market Fair at the Space on the fifth floor of Ayala One in Makati. (I know, I know. Me in Makati on a Saturday?! What about the laundry waiting at home?)
But the pull of our local weavers and what artisans and designers have been up to, was just too difficult to resist. ‘Beautiful’ is an understatement, when describing their products, most which can be worn even outside your usual Filipiniana-motifed wedding or special event.
‘[At] the Likhang Habi Market Fair, weaving communities bring out the best products they have created using the latest technique they have developed-methods that will become part of our weaving culture and history, and our identity as a nation,’ said Habi president Mia Villanueva.
Aside from the wider space now afforded the weavers, designers, and product sellers, this year’s Habi also featured lectures and discussions on textiles and fashion, as well as music from local artists playing traditional tunes.
Guests were also treated to cultural presentations, weaving demonstrations and other workshops, all of which serve to reinforce the Habi Council’s mission to ‘preserve, promote, and enhance Philippine textiles through education, communication, and research.’
‘The vendors get a lot out of being at the fair and meeting their customers,’ said Habi President Emeritus Adelaida Lim, for her part.
‘They get to see what the buyers are interested in and that dialogue helps them level-up to what the market wants.’
I had fun, as usual with Miss Philippines, schmoozing with the vendors, admiring the intricate embroidery and weaving, and feeling the passion and creativity that went into the fabrics, clothes, shoes and bags. Sure, they were all out of my price range-the least expensive item I found were a pair of adorned espadrilles at P2,500-but it gives one an immense feeling of pride to see how far we have come from the tribal bags and brass jewelry I used to buy from Davao back in the 1980s.
I can just imagine all these exquisite clothes and ornate accessories on models in runways abroad, bringing attention to the Philippines as a destination for unique, heritage-inspired fashion.
Looking back, it was a Saturday well-spent immersed in Filipino passion for ‘colorful’ flavors and fabrics.