Cast in Stone

It was 7:30 in the morning when Pete Delantar greeted me at the hotel parking lot. His wife, Cathy, was in the van that would take us to the main office and plant site of Nature’s Legacy, which was near the Mactan Export Processing Zone.

"We’ve been in business for 14 years," Cathy said during the 45-minute ride. "We’ve had our ups and downs. There have been times when only our faith and confidence in our ourselves and our business have sustained us."

We turned into a small dirt path. Tall blades of grass filled the empty lots by the sides of the road with small houses sharing space with the trees. Pete said the company had its own housing for its less than a hundred employees.

I noticed a small chapel inside the compound. A videoke machine was inside the canteen.

Fusion

Inside the main plant was the company showroom.

"We call our stone products ‘house wares’ or products for the home," Pete said.

Made mostly for foreign markets, one can best describe the products made of Mactan stone and limestone as a fusion of past and present. On one end, you have the limestone flower vases, urns, chairs and other living room products. The natural earth tones and textures of the items strike you immediately. It is as if they have been naturally growing out of the rock and soil for the last thousand years.

On the other end, there are glass-topped tables supported by iron and stone and the papaya and peanut shell-shaped stone containers that reflect the company’s foray in the modern and the futuristic.

Almost all the designs used by the company were in-house. The biggest item we saw was a large water fountain and the smallest was a set for room number plates. For its newest product line, there were colorful stones combined with iron done in the nouveau art style.

Other designs were custom-made products such as the small 19th century washtub for an American client. The stone-cast product was beautiful with simulated cracks and a quaint animal icon design that provided an Old World feel.

Competitive

Right now, the biggest market of Nature’s Legacy is the United States. "When America slows down, everybody slows down," Pete said with a laugh. In the next breath, he said Nature’s Legacy is able to cushion any drop in US sales by widening its markets to Europe and the Middle East.

Judging from the success of the company, it’s hard to believe the Delantars have ever in any financial trouble . "It’s a matter of attitude," said Cathy. "In every problem, there’s always a good side. We don’t see anything as a problem so long as we can move forward. We believe in positive thinking."

Cathy’s optimism is shared by Pete. "Instead of wasting time worrying about the market, you can use the time to create something for the market. When the times are better, you are in a position to bounce back because you will be the first one with the right product for that particular market."

The Delantars obviously enjoy working with each other. "I run the business while Cathy makes sure everything goes well with the plant operations," Pete said. They do shop even after business hours and they listen to each other’s advice.

It is this give-and-take partnership that has made all the difference for Nature’s Legacy this part 14 years.