Fast-selling red polka-dot undies

Did you know 1: There’s a bunch of ex-Citibankers led by Bankard Inc. president Joven Reyes who call themselves The Cholesterol Club.

When they get together, which is pretty regularly, these guys, which include Rose Montenegro of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Elizabeth Locsin of Cleanway Technology Corp. (a processor of toxic wastes in Cavite), make it a point to order some artery-clogging dish such as Peking duck or lechon.

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Did you know 2: The average dealer commission for a Ford Expedition is P100,000. Since a dealer can move an average of between four and eight Expeditions a month, that’s more than enough to meet overhead expenses.

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Did you know 3: The fastest-moving item in Bench stores in China are polka-dot panties and briefs – preferably in red.

Bench is, of course, the brand name of Suyen Corp.’s lifestyle chain, whose creative guru is Ben Chan. To keep costs down, Suyen subcontracts the manufacturing of most of its products to companies based in China and India.

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Well, well. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has committed to put up P10 million to help Boracay manage its growing solid waste problem. That’s on top of the P2-million grant of the Canadian International Development Agency and the P2-million counterpart fund raised by Boracay’s local business association.

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Japan Organic & Natural Foods Association executive director Kenji Matsumoto just left the country after close to a two-week tour. Mr. Matsumoto has been dealing with potential exporters being nurtured by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (which is headed by Trade assistant secretary Fe Agoncillo Reyes) and the Organic Producers and Traders Association.

The idea here is to help entrepreneurs enter the lucrative (read: organically grown products command a premium price over regularly-grown products) Japanese consumer market for organically-grown products. Right now, only products certified by JONA, a private sector-led group, can be sold in Japan.

CITEM and OPTA want to come up with a similar Philippine-based certifying body, bearing in mind that, while there is one global standard – that of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements – some countries might have a higher bar than others. Japan is one of those countries.

JONA’s certification, for example, covers all levels of production for organic products – from what kind of materials are used to enrich the soil to cultivation, from how the products are harvested to how these are processed and then distributed.