Pitching for wellness

It will be 50 years in 2012 since Kay Sham and three brothers were brought to Manila from Bangalore, India, by their parents to start a new life. Sham worked at the Bombay Department Store on Rizal Avenue then was employed in a textile mill and sold sundries, including handkerchiefs and baby products, before forming Sonia Trading in 1966 as an import company for general merchandising.

Sham’s involvement with sports was almost by accident. He wrote a Japanese supplier to inquire about buying a soccer ball for his three children Sonia, Anil and Kiran to play with. The supplier didn’t only send Sham a ball but also a contract to represent the Mikasa brand in the Philippines in 1972. One thing led to another and today, Sonia Trading is considered an industry leader in distributing sports-related footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment and medicine.

Sonia Trading’s list of high-quality products includes Mikasa and Molten balls, Asics and Onitsuka Tiger shoes, apparel and accessories, Gosen shuttlecocks and strings for badminton and tennis, Butterfly and Nittaku table tennis equipment, Mueller sports medicine products, Yasuda swimming gear, Nelco track hardware and Puma darts. Sonia Trading has also been a big supporter of local sporting events and leagues like the PBA, Tournament of the Philippines, NCAA and UAAP.

Sham is now immersed in his new mission as ambassador of goodwill in promoting the “Science of the Soul” and lives half the year in India. His son Anil Buxani, 45, has taken charge of the family business. A brother Kiran, 42, is on the way back to Manila after living 12 years in San Francisco and will also participate in managing the growing enterprise.

Anil’s imprint in the business is showing the way for the future. Two years ago, he broke into retailing with the launch of Onitsuka Tiger’s first store in Greenbelt-5, Sonia Trading’s first venture into ground-level marketing after an established tradition of distributorship.

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By 2012, Anil envisions Sonia Trading to operate three divisions – sports, health care and food. Under sports will be the Asics section, including Onitsuka Tiger, and the equipment section, including Molten and Mikasa balls. Under health care will be sports-related medical equipment, devices and accessories, including braces, muscle tape, protectors, orthopaedic supplies and rehabilitation paraphernalia. Under foods is the healthy organic eating line of 86 types of meals from Amy’s Kitchen of Peteluma, California.

Anil said Sonia Trading will move into a new three-storey office building off Alabang Hills in time for the 50th anniversary but will retain the facility on the South Expressway as a cold storage for Amy’s Kitchen products. By then, he said there will be eight Asics stores, four Onitsuka Tiger stores and six Amy’s cafes.

“We’ve been extremely busy lately,” he said excitedly. “We had the soft opening of our first Asics store in Greenbelt-3 last Tuesday and the market response has been very encouraging. Then we’ve got food-tasting for Amy’s Kitchen at Rustan’s this weekend and Shopwise the next.”

Sonia Trading’s entry into the food business is unprecedented. Anil said during a visit to San Francisco last year, he met Andy and Rachel Berliner through common friends. The Berliners own Amy’s Kitchen which was established in 1987 and has outlets in over 30 countries, including Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and India.

“They were looking for a partner in the Philippines and fate brought us together,” said Anil.

It didn’t take long before Anil and the Berliners signed an agreement for Sonia Trading to distribute Amy’s organic line of frozen ready-to-eat meals, pizzas, burritos, lasagnas, veggie burgers, pocket sandwiches, pot pies, breakfast cereals, biscuits, cookies, salad dressings, nuts, desserts, canned soups, beans and chili.

Anil assigned his wife Tina to take care of Amy’s administrative work and Kiran’s wife Cristiane, a former vice president with the world’s largest enterprise software outfit Oracle Corp. of Redwood City, to assume the marketing responsibility.

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Cristiane, a Brazilian who was raised in northern California, discovered the value of healthy eating when she found out that diet affects human behavior and bodily changes in caring for her autistic son. With her knowledge of organic foods and high-level managerial background at Oracle, she was a perfect choice to do marketing for Amy’s Kitchen.

“Amy’s food is prepared in its purest form with all natural ingredients,” said Cristiane. “No trans fats, no pesticides, no harmful chemicals. It’s perfect to send off in lunch bags for your spouses and children because the food is healthy, nutritious and delicious. What’s more, it’s reasonably priced. The burritos and sandwich wraps go for about P180 apiece, the whole meals about P360 and a pizza, P399.”

To introduce Amy’s menu, Rustan’s Supermarket in Rockwell and Makati will hold a food-tasting starting today from 12 noon to 9 p.m. up to Sunday. Another food-tasting weekend is scheduled at Shopwise Alabang and Libis on June 25-27 from 12 noon to 9 p.m.

Anil said in the drawing boards is the opening of the first Amy’s Café where customers will be treated to heat-and-eat and grab-and-go meals – all of the organic variety, of course. Healthy beverages will also be offered.

 “Amy’s Kitchen is the first fully-integrated and most comprehensive organic food supplier in the world,” said Anil. “We’re fortunate to tie up with Amy’s Kitchen to become the first and only distributor of frozen organic foods in the Philippines. Amy’s Café is also a first and we plan to open the pioneer café either on High Street or in Greenbelt in Makati.”

The organic food line is in keeping with Sonia’s campaign for wellness as nutrition is a key element in living a healthy life. The sports-related health care business line covers another aspect of wellness and the sports footwear, apparel and accessories line is the icing on the cake. Anil called it promoting “a lifestyle of health” as Sonia Trading heads to its 50th anniversary with a clear vision for the future.