With his natural love for designing, Jade Pitogo Malano started making and selling fashion accessories to friends in Cebu a decade ago.
Little did he know that it would be the start of Kulturas Export International, which he now runs with a foreign partner.
“I was still a student of political science at the University of San Carlos when I met a foreign investor in 2005. He made me his partner for a fashion accessories export company,” Malano told Cebu Daily News.
The foreigner put in the capital; Malano invested his talent and skills.
On the same year, they joined international trade shows in Sydney, Australia. The buyers they met later became their exclusive customers.
“From that point, the growth was continuous. Although I finished my degree in 2003, I never got to practice it because my passion was my business. I saw a lot of potential to earn more than just being an employee,” Malano said.
To keep their products competitive in the market, Malano said he and his partner studied international design trends and used high-quality raw materials.
In 2008, business slowed down as the United States went into recession. Orders from the U.S. dropped.
“It was really bad but quitting never came to my mind. I simply thought that in business there are always ups and downs. My partner understood that as well,” Malano said.
They looked into other opportunities in Asia, where there was continued demand even as they did not stop marketing in the U.S. and Europe “because we don’t want to let go of our customers there.”
At present, Malano also markets his products in Cebu.
“The crisis left me no choice but to cut on overhead. I had to let go of staff. There were 50 of them. Now I only hire subcontractors because the market hasn’t rebounded yet,” he said.
To tap the local market, Malano set up the company Roche and Jade Fashion in 2010 with an investment of P100,000. He turned the lower level of their house in Canlujao, Lapu-Lapu City into a showroom.
Under the local brand, they produced bags, necklaces, earrings and other fashion accessories for the local market.
“While these are made for local buyers, I made sure that the quality is at par with my export products at a price level suited for them,” he said.
Jade’s necklaces, for example, are priced below P1,000 each.
“In the future, I’d also like to see Roche and Jade Fashion grow and cater to the international market not as an exclusive supplier of fashion accessories to different international brands but as a brand on its own. That is to differentiate it from my other business,” he said.
As a step toward this goal, Malano said he will bring Roche and Jade Fashion to an international trade show next year, along with Kulturas Export International.
“That will be my way of introducing Roche and Jade Fashion to the world,” Malano said.
While the export industry still has to fully recover, Malano said it is wise not to quit.
He said one must endure the trials and survive.
“I am a firm believer that in everything there lies opportunities awaiting to be discovered. It just up to you how to find that.”