Alfredo Yao and His Zesty Way to Success
(Photo from http://www.amyfoundationph.com/partners.html)
As a kid, I’m pretty
sure that you were one of those who enjoyed fruit drinks for refreshment,
during recess periods or break times in school.
And if we are to talk about good old fruit drinks, I’m also pretty sure
that majority of us would have this name on our lists –the name Zest-O. Yes, I’m talking about that doypack (or some
call tetra-pak) juice drink that a lot of us, if not everyone, loved as kids.
This juice drink
appeared in the market one day and immediately became a hit to kids and adults
alike, especially to moms who struggle in preparing lunch boxes for their
kids. But have you ever thought about
how this hit brand came to be? What most
of us don't know, is that behind this product that we all delighted in, is a
success story of a man, who had to struggle to make a living in his childhood
days.
“When Zest-O was
established, it had a single yet valuable mission, to provide products of
immense consumer value and quality that exceeds even the scrutiny of global
measure.” –Alfredo Yao
The story of Alfredo
Yao, founder of Zest-O Corporation, is yet another rags-to-riches story
everyone should see as an inspiration.
His story tells us that in order to gain something, we should all be
ready to invest.
A breadwinner at 12
When he lost his father
at a young age of 12, he instantly became the family’s breadwinner. Being the eldest child with five siblings
behind him, young Alfredo Yao had to be the one to help their mother fend for
their family. His mother was just a
sidewalk vendor back then. When he's not
doing any other job, he would go with his mother to Chinese gambling dens to
sell.
At some point, he lived
with his uncle, whose house was the occasional venue of nightly mahjong
games. He would usually go out on
errands during these games, and it is through these errands that he learned a
lot of ideas to a streetwise approach to running a business.
Early business ventures
With help from
relatives, Alfredo was able to finish his elementary and high school
education. He went to Mapua Institute of
Technology for a degree in Engineering, while doing odd jobs at a warehouse of
some packaging company. However, he had
to stop after two years due to lack of funds.
On several occasions,
he visited a printing press where one of his cousins was working. There he learned the ways of printing on cellophane wrappers for candies and biscuits. That was when he saw the potential
market in the packaging industry. At the
age of 17, with the help of some money that his mother got from a bank loan and
some savings of his own, he started to invest by opening a small printing press
for packaging. He named the company
“Solemar” which he took from his mother’s name Soledad.
Later on, he was able
to earn his bachelor's degree in Engineering from Mapua Institute of
Technology. He even got a doctorate
degree in Business Administration Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University
of the Philippines.
Zest-O was born
The printing press
business that he started thrived for about 20 years. Eventually, he saw the potential of
“doypacks”, which was the latest European packaging technology back then. He bought a machine during a trip to Europe
and decided to introduce the idea of the doypack format to the local
market. He tried to sell the concept to
different juice manufacturers in the Philippines, but no one was interested in
it. He then decided to use the machine
that he bought and start his own juice manufacturing business.
In 1980, with the help
of a former client, he concocted his own Juice drink in his kitchen. He asked another friend to come up with a design
for the packaging, and they came up with the name “Zest-O,” where Zest means
citrus peel in French and O added to make the sound more round. They launched the Zest-O orange drinks that
same year and it became an instant hit.
Kids loved how their drinks are kept cold until break time, while
mothers saw how practical it was in food preparation. The innovation that the other companies
didn't want, gave his own company a boost.
His way to the top
Alfredo and his team
worked on getting everyone to recognize the brand. From the imported look of the packaging to
the actual taste, everything was made to impress. The name Zest-O was made known in the market. Gradually, the brand rose and became the
leading juice drink in the Philippines.
Zest-O Corporation grew and ventured not only in juice manufacturing but
also in some other food and beverage products.
As of today, Zest-O
Corporation has five manufacturing plants and 13
branches nationwide, producing more than 40 brands in different
categories. Their products include
Zest-O Ready-To-Drink Juices, Zest-O Carbonated Drinks, Quick Chow noodles,
Slice bottled Juice Drink, One Tea Bottled Tea Drink to name a few.
Zest-O
now takes up 80% of the local market for fruit juices and has expanded its
operation to China, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, the U.S. and
Europe. The company has helped rebuild
the fruit growing industry in the country, especially the Philippine’s native
fruits like "dalandan". The doypacks doesn’t go to waste as they are
recycled by local cottage industries and used as materials in making handbags
that are exported to other countries.
(Photo from http://www.anna.aero/2011/07/13/manila-based-zest-air-operates-20-domestic-routes-from-manila)
Alfredo
Yao didn’t stop there. Talking about
going all the way up, aside from productions of ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat
food, Zest-O Corporation now owns what used to be Asian Spirit Airlines, which
was aptly renamed as Zest Air by CEO Alfredo Yao himself.
Truly,
a man we all should learn from, Alfredo Yao is yet another living proof that a
man born of poverty doesn’t always have to stay poor. Always looking for possibilities, this man
grabbed every opportunity that came his way. He seized all the challenges and
obstacles that hindered him, and made breakthroughs out of prospects. His story is a loud reminder to everyone that
in order to succeed, one must never be afraid to invest.
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