El Presidente is Back in the Game

MANILA, Philippines - No hay mal que por bien no venga – every cloud has a silver lining – is an old Spanish saying. This was proven true yet again at the Kintanar’s hacienda in the seaside town of Argao, Cebu where for generations, active clan members have continued to serve the people. Within the property’s bountiful coconut plantation, the present day scion Karla, station manager for TV5-Cebu and her husband, Filipino basketball icon Ramon Fernandez, detected some domestic troubles.

The then-not-so-ambitious caretaker’s husband would add tungog to convert coconut nectar from suka into tuba. Instead of peddling the transformed brew, he would get hopelessly drunk on it. Family rifts ensued over lost profits and wasted finances meant for their children’s schooling.

“To end our trusted encargada’s problems, we asked her erring husband to produce a quota of several gallons of coconut nectar every week and sell everything back to us to ensure that our caretaker receives financial remuneration from her husband’s labor,” Karla recalls.

The dark cloud’s silver lining then appeared. It all began with this act of goodwill. The couple ended up with more vinegar than they needed, and immediately recognized it as a business opportunity. With the assistance of their loyal household help – the now-happy capatas and her reformed prodigal husband – they bottled the blend and branded it as Suka ni Tisoy. The basketball legend may be known nationally as El Presidente, but in Cebu, their target market, he was nicknamed Tisoy, obviously due to his mestizo features. Thus, the accidental, immensely profitable backyard venture began.

In 2004, together with friends and family, the couple put up an informal diner, Tisoy’s: Karenderia ni El Presidente, along A.S. Fortuna Street in Cebu City. It was a casual eatery that served hearty, home-cooked meals reflective of his humble beginnings, a typical probinsyano. It was also here where Cebuanos discovered Suka ni Tisoy, being a staple on the table. Word of mouth was the order of the day. More wanted a taste of their suka, one of the very few made of 100 percent pure coconut nectar.

Avid basketball fans and foodies alike would eventually troop to leading supermarkets and pasalubong centers in the island for bottles of the vinegar. Happily, the demand increased, but sadly, the supply from their small backyard set-up couldn’t keep up.

Meanwhile, Six Eleven Marketing and Development Corp., founded by Karla’s father, Vicente “June” Kintanar, Jr., the producer of fuel enhancers such as F2020 Fuel Additive, was now being used by the country’s biggest shipping companies, and the manufacturer of an organic line of deodorizers, disinfectants, and a nature-friendly de-composting agent called Maxi Green was tapped by more local governments and industrial firms who care for the environment. 

The couple’s dilemma was time – precious time to be shared between Suka ni Tisoy and the more demanding family business which needed much of their attention. Suka ni Tisoy had to cease operation.

But people continued to crave for Suka ni Tisoy. The couple would bump into serious fans, of both suka and Tisoy himself, who would share their dismay that the product could no longer liven up their meals. Simultaneously, friends and family abroad, who always looked forward to receiving it as pasalubong, missed it dearly as well. Thus, before leaving for yet another trip, Karla resolutely told herself: something must be done.

“Somehow, she was bothered we were throwing away what was actually a lucrative business,” Ramon explains. “While I was busy involved with Six Eleven, Karla met up with the president and CEO of Profood International Corp. Justin Uy – on a Sunday, at that. To Karla, it was a positive sign for a busy person like Justin to agree to get together on a weekend,” he continues. 

True enough, that first encounter proved to be the beginning of an exciting partnership. Ramon and Karla’s small, close-to-their-heart venture paired up with the established culinary giant. Profood International, the country’s biggest manufacturer of fruit products and among the Top 3 in all of Asia, exports the much-desired Philippine Brand dried fruits, purees, canned juices, Tampico, Ju-C Juice, Baker’s Mill, just to name a few. 

Positioned for global dominance by way of the local and foreign Filipino market, Suka ni Tisoy was re-branded as Suka ni El Presidente. Ramon may be Tisoy to his close friends and family in Cebu, but as far as the country is concerned, he is El Presidente, one of the true pillars of the country’s unofficial national sport. Many may recall Ramon donned the No. 19 jersey and fittingly ended his Philippine Basketball Association playing career with 19 championships. With four Most Valuable Player titles, he has the most number of career achievement awards in Philippine basketball history, and nothing less than excellence could possibly be attached to his moniker. Apart from its popularity among staunch supporters around the world, El Presidente signifies first-rate, top-of-the-line quality.

Today, El Presidente is prepared in a 16-hectare site in Maguikay, Mandaue City. From originally just Ramon, Karla, their house help, the caretaker and her husband, they now employ over 300 trained Cebuanos with at least a high school diploma, producing 10,000 bottles of this condiment every eight hours. It now comes in two sizes – 375 ml in a small, wide bottle called lapad, and 750 ml fills a longneck.

With the guidance and assistance of Joven Uy, Profood’s operations manager, the entire process has been streamlined: “Receiving raw material, raw material preparation, standardizing, pasteurization, filtration, filling, and packing,” he methodically recites.

The enterprising couple and Profoods remain true to their market niche. “Since the main ingredient of the vinegar is 100 percent natural coconut nectar, it is most preferred by chefs and health-conscious individuals,” Karla declares.

They are also the only vinegar brand certified by international food safety and quality organizations Halal Certification Agency, United Kingdom Accreditation Service, International Organization for Standardization, Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points, and British Retail Consortium.

Profoods distributes its many products in some 45 countries to date and Filipinos abroad have more reasons to rejoice. Likewise, Suka ni El Presidente is a big hit in all of the branches of Seafood City, the biggest Filipino supermarket chain in the United States. Locally, it may be found in major supermarket chains in the metropolis. In Cebu, it is also available in leading local supermarkets.

“It is a most delicious sawsawan, whether for seafood, beef, pork, or chicken, be it grilled, roasted, or fried,” Ramon recommends. “It is great as a dressing for vegetable salads and for fruits like half-ripe papaya and guava, or root crops like jicama turnip, known in the vernacular as singkamas.”

Karla claims, “It is best proven as a marinade, like in kilawin, where raw meat is soaked in it, for a Visayan breakfast dish inun-unan, the very popular lechon paksiw and adobo, and everybody’s favorite dried fish – tuyo or bulad in Bisaya, among others.”

Suka ni El Presidente does not only begin in the kitchen and end in the family dining table. “Quite amusing,” Karla intimates, “a cock breeder-friend told us that he mixes one teaspoon of our product per liter of water and would give it to his chicks twice a week to keep them healthy and free from cocci.”