Month: April 2021

Coffee That’s Really Good For You: Glorious, Isn’t It?

May be an image of text

For decades, coffee had received a bad reputation. Besides allegedly triggering high blood pressure, insomnia, and hyperacidity, the Filipino habit of adding lots of sugar and cream to one’s cup has been said to aggravate diabetes.

While there’s no denying the Pinoy coffee fan his morning cup, there is concern over the amount of sugar present in commercial 3-in-1 coffee mixes. The leading brand has 14.6 grams of sugar in one 20-gram sachet alone. Imagine how much sugar you’re taking in if you drink an average of three cups of coffee a day.What About Sugar-Free Coffee?

For health-conscious individuals, especially diabetics, turning to sugar-free coffee mixes seems to be the only option. This meant enduring tasteless cups of coffee just to satisfy their caffeine fix —until Stevia came along. Stevia is the low calorie, zero sugar sweetener that tastes so much better than artificial sweeteners. Stevia is an herb with a sweet-tasting extract that comes from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant.

It has been enjoyed since pre-Columbian South America where indigenous people used the herb to sweeten their tea and other drinks. The plant’s taste stems from steviol glycosides, molecules which are 250–300 times sweeter than regular sugar. It became popular among health-conscious individuals because stevia has a very low caloric content. This makes it perfect for dieters and people who are trying to lose weight. Moreover, Stevia makes coffee and tea taste so much better without adding any calories. Aside from beverages, Stevia is also used as an alternative sweetener when cooking or baking.

The Health Advantages of Stevia

Stevia is a safe, healthy sugar substitute that can sweeten up food without the negative health effects of refined sugar. It’s also associated with several impressive benefits such as reduced calorie intake, managed blood sugar levels, and minimized risk of cavities. Additionally, while other sugar substitutes like Aspartame have been linked with cancer, there’s no evidence linking stevia to cancer since it is a natural ingredient. This means you can add stevia to dishes and drinks without fear that you’re taking too much sugar, or that you’ll get sick a few years down the road.

For coffee lovers, it’s also good to note that locally-made Glorious Blend coffees and instant beverages have Stevia as its natural sweetener. The blend of natural and healthful ingredients make the drink not only refreshing and safe, but also good for one’s overall health. The Glorious Blend boasts a full line of healthy drinks, including a 7-in-1 healthy coffee mix.

This special blend is made with proven medicinal ingredients like Malunggay, Mangosteen, Calcium, Gotu Kola, and sweetened with Sweet & Fit Stevia. What’s even better is that the Glorious Blend 7in1 Coffee is non-acidic and promotes regular bowel movement. The Glorious line-up also includes the 3-in-1 coffee mix with Stevia; 7-in-1 choco mix; 4-in-1 coffee with Malunggay; 5-in-1 coffee mix with Brown Rice; and the MaxiTrim coffee. All Glorious Blend beverages use Stevia which has no calories, no carbohydrates, and zero glycemic index. All of their instant drinks will keep you alert and energized throughout the day. Also, Glorious Blend products are locally sourced and manufactured. Their company supports local farmers, stevia growers, and other agricultural communities.

May be an image of text

So if you’ve been cutting back on drinking coffee because of health problems like diabetes or hyper acidity, Glorious Blend coffee mixes are here to help. You can enjoy all the aroma and flavor of freshly made coffee all day —without the guilt! Now, you can drink coffee for better health! Glorious, isn’t it?For more information about Glorious Blend coffee mixes, check out https://www.facebook.com/gloriousblend.

PCPPI to provide free vaccines to all its employees joins the private sector in Dose of Hope initiative

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI),—the exclusive manufacturer of PepsiCo beverages in the country—announced today that it will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all its employees who will voluntarily receive them.

The company purchased the vaccines as part of the tripartite agreement between the private sector, the government and vaccine manufacturers. “Providing free vaccines is essential to a healthy and safe working environment at PCPPI.

The inoculation will be voluntary but we highly encourage everyone to be vaccinated. This is to show gratitude to our employees who have all worked hard during the pandemic,” said President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick D. Ong.

The vaccination program is part of “Dose of Hope” initiative led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion. The program already purchased 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca. Set delivery date of vaccines for the company will be on the 3rd quarter of this year.

“PCPPI participated in the ‘Dose of Hope’ initiative for faster vaccine rollout. This is our way of supporting the private sector’s goal of reviving the economy and the government’s efforts in controlling covid,” Ong added. PCPPI also held a virtual learning session on COVID-19 Vaccination for its employees. Dr. Iris Radev, MD from Ocean Medical Clinic in British Columbia, Canada, facilitated the online event.

With close to 300 attendees, the session aimed to encourage vaccination. “Our employees need to know the right information on COVID-19 vaccines. The benefits of inoculation definitely outweighs the risks and fears we have,” added Vibes Cheong, Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Affairs. PPCPI manufactures and sells well-known PepsiCo beverages brands such as Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, 7-Up, Mirinda, Mug, Gatorade, Aquafina, Premier, Sting, Tropicana and Lipton.

Lamudi Doubles Manpower to Answer Stronger Digitization of Local and International Interest in PH Real Estate

Lamudi Philippines is gearing up for expansion. Growing with the increasing demand for properties online, Lamudi continues to raise the bar for what is possible in the industry.

Amid the challenges and uncertainties brought about by the pandemic, leading real estate platform Lamudi is gearing up for expansion. In its seventh year in the industry, the team plans to double its Philippine team and cater better to the country’s growing and recovering real estate market.

Kenneth Stern, Lamudi Philippines’ CEO, said that he looks forward to 2021, as the year brings fresh new opportunities for achieving unprecedented growth amid the crisis. Stern joined the group in September 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

“We set new aggressive targets that will continue to raise the bar for what is possible,” he said.

Stern added that Lamudi Philippines will be focusing on the “right people, right leaders, and the right culture” as the company moves to augment its workforce and business operations.

Foundation for Expansion

Lamudi’s new parent company offers a stable backing for its expansion plans. It was announced in May last year that EMPG, one of the leading digital classifieds groups in the Middle East-North America, South Asia and Southeast Asia regions, acquired Lamudi Global, covering ventures in the Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico.

The digital classifieds giant owns and operates various online marketplaces, including Bayut in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Zameen in Pakistan, Bproperty.com in Bangladesh, Mubawab in Morocco and Tunisia, and Kaidee in Thailand.

Similarly, it owns and operates Dubizzle in the UAE, OLX Pakistan, OLX Egypt, and OLX Lebanon. EMPG’s acquisition of OLX raised its valuation to $1 billion.

The acquisition by a unicorn company allows Lamudi to learn from EMPG’s knowledge and expertise in the global market. This has helped Lamudi seize opportunities in overseas demand while continuing to strengthen their presence in the Philippine real estate market.

According to Lamudi’s trend report, Hotspots Unwrapped: 2020’s Most Popular Locations, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh drove the strongest overseas interest in Philippine properties in 2020.

The report added that the most active property market segment was the millennials. The age bracket of 25 to 34 represented the highest number of pageviews, accounting for 30.58 percent. The most motivated, on the other hand, were the generations older, 45 to 54, fueling the greatest number of leads, 28.60 percent.

Lamudi works on seizing opportunities in the overseas market and reaching more property buyers and sellers in the Philippines, as it is backed with EMPG’s financial resources and industry expertise.

Collaborations with Real Estate Giants

More than the support of its parent company, Lamudi draws its strength from the partnerships it has forged with property developers.

Recently, the portal has renewed its partnership agreement with real estate giant Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC). Leveraging Lamudi’s monthly pageviews of up to 7 million, the partnership will bring unparalleled exposure and reach to RLC Residences, the consolidation of RLC’s three divisions–Residences, Luxuria, and Communities–into “a single and meaningful brand.”

Last year, Lamudi introduced a webinar series featuring RLC’s key leaders. In June, Arch. Henry L. Yap, Senior Vice President and Business Unit General Manager of RLC Residences, talked about real estate as a solid investment, giving encouraging advice to buyers. RLC also graced Lamudi’s online events. Architect Yap shared his journey as a real estate professional for On the House: Small Talk with Big Bosses.

Despite the challenges of the health crisis, Lamudi managed to provide a comprehensive campaign and maintain a strong relationship with its partner developers. The team is confident that its expansion plan will succeed, fueled by its ties with real estate giants.

Growth on All Fronts

As the real estate partner turned seven last March, Lamudi has seen the gradual shift to online transactions through the years. In 2016, Lamudi launched its housing fairs; now, in 2021, it is set to host the first and biggest online housing fair in May, featuring a huge network of property developers all over the Philippines — RLC, Aboitizland, Federal Land, Shang Properties, Solar Resources, and Primehomes, to name a few.

This change is testament to how online-first is the move companies make in the new normal, and how property seekers are more active than ever when it comes to online property search. Overcoming obstacles from last year, Lamudi finds more motivation in reaching greater heights.

According to Lamudi data, pageviews declined steeply around the time the enhanced community quarantine policy was implemented in March and April 2020. After understanding what was happening in the market and reviewing strategies, they launched the campaign Modified Enhanced Listing Offer, allowing brokers and agents to post 50 free listings on the platform in an effort to help the industry bounce back.  

In the same month, Lamudi saw a 56.76 percent increase in pageviews compared to March. By July, the company was earning back almost 100 percent of its pageviews recorded in January.

Given this promising outlook, Lamudi plans to grow its manpower on all fronts of the business by 2021: It will double its broker sales teams within the first half of 2021, with plans to continue adding more people in the second half of the year as demand continues to grow. Lamudi’s developer sales teams have already started to grow every month, with plans to double by the end of the year. To support the commercial teams, the operations and support teams are also continuously scaling up proportionate to their needs.

Overseas pageviews on Lamudi saw a 17% year-on-year growth in 2020, despite the setbacks brought on by the pandemic. In 2021 so far, overseas pageviews have posted a 20.51% increase in the monthly average compared to 2020, with real estate listings receiving attention from overseas destinations with sizable OFW populations such as Singapore, Dubai, London, and Sydney. With Lamudi’s expansion plans underway, it will have more manpower to address the strong demand from these regions.

Visit lamudi.com.ph to know more.

“Taste of Asia” in Sherwood Place, Taft Avenue Manila

Viet Mart Supplier Inc. (Vmart.ph), an international-based growing start-up grocery business in the Philippines, establishes its second physical store in Sherwood Place in Taft Avenue, Manila in its initial expanding efforts.

When Jenny To, CEO of Vmart.ph, established the first store, currently located at 174 Yakal Street Makati City, its primary goal was to serve and bring Vietnamese products to its ex-pats living in Makati. Then, after a short period of business in the country, they have decided to integrate their business into the local scene.

“Our products originally and majorly are Vietnam products. We’re currently looking into the Vietnam market in the Philippines then start to expand to the local market here. We want to stretch to the local market now and try switching from Vietnam-centered market to the local,” said To.

Vmart.ph primarily has Vietnamese goods, but it also includes Korean, Thai, Chinese, and some Filipino products.

Vmart.ph products vary from consumable goods to health and beauty products, mobile phone accessories, international fruits and vegetables, medical supplies, pet care products, meat and poultry, and various beverages.

Vmart.ph also has a joint business with VMart which is Annam.ph, a Vietnamese mainstay restaurant, located beside the Makati branch.

“We want to bring the Vietnam products here in the Philippines, but we also brought with us Thai, Chinese, and Korean products to our store,” said To.

“When we first opened here, our first goal was to cater to Vietnamese ex-pats living in the Philippines,” explained To.

Vmart.ph’s second store was strategically established in Sherwood Place in Taft Manila to cater, not only to ex-pats living near Taft Avenue but also to target De La Salle University-Manila students, who they think has the greater interest in trying international products because of their “traveling tendencies.”

“When we opened in our second branch in Sherwood Place in Taft Manila, we wanted not to focus only on Vietnam ex-pats living around Taft but we are also targeting students from De La Salle University. We think that most of these students are there well-traveled,” said To.

“We know most of the students from LaSalle go on and about to different countries to we figured that they are the specific market that would appreciate and try out the products,” said To.

For 2021, Vmart plans to establish a total of three stores in the country’s capital region, also strategically choosing from either Quezon City, Clark Pampanga, Pasay, or Cavite.

“We are planning to put a maximum of three stores. Maybe one or two more for this year. We are looking into either Clark in Pampanga or Cavite. We are also searching either in Quezon City, Cavite, Pasay, or Pampanga but were still looking for the best spots to put up the stores,” said To.

VMart “Taste of Asia” is open 24 hours, seven days a week and delivers from 7:00 AM to 4:00 AM.

For additional information, please visit www.vmart.ph.

ENJOY WONDERFUL FESTIVITIES PLANNED FOR MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND AT LAS CASAS

This Mother’s Day, show your appreciation and love for your mothers by treating the whole family to a much- needed, worry-free weekend away from the city.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is offering curated experiences to make your Mother’s Day Weekend one for the books!

Whether you are in the city or wish to be away from it, Las Casas has prepared special weekends dedicated to providing guests with a most memorable Mother’s Day celebration while equally putting importance to the safety of all its guests and staff members during the time of this pandemic.

RELAXING STAYS AT LAS CASAS, BATAAN

For those who wish to spend Mother’s Day out-of-town, Las Casas in Bataan is having a Special Room Offer perfect for intimate celebrations available from May 7 to 9, 2021.

For as low as Php 8,000 nett for two persons, enjoy a relaxing stay in one of our deluxe rooms or casas paired with an English-style Mother’s Day breakfast.

Complete your Las Casas, Bataan visit with an array of immersive and educational tours such as Heritage Walking Tour, Balsa Tour, Kalesa and Tramvia rides, and a chance to visit Hotel de Oriente, where guests can explore one of Las Casas’ most iconic structures within the resort showcasing the most intricate wood mosaics, wood sculptures, and murals by local craftsmen.

With its #SecuredStaysatLasCasas COVID-19 safety program, guests can enjoy their weekend with ease knowing that the proper safety measures are being put in place. Proper sanitation, cleaning, monitoring, and the regular testing of its staff members on duty are just some of the measures they have put in place to ensure the safety of its guests and staff members.

CONTINENTAL BUFFET AT LAS CASAS, QC

A visit to Las Casas, Quezon City offers the most perfect setting for family dining on Mother’s Day this May 8 and May 9, 2021. With its two-day festivities and with lots of extra offers planned, the whole family is surely in for a treat!

Priced at Php 2,600 per person, one can feast on a delicious continental buffet spread. The Mother’s Day Menu lineup includes Filipino and International Mains, brick oven pizzas, on-site pasta station, salad bars, fresh seafood options, and more to be discovered when you dine.

This event is made more special with live entertainment courtesy of their resident pianist and violinist, because nothing sets the ambiance more perfectly than good music.

They will also be offering floral backdrops beautifully arranged by their partner florists, Amante Fleur and Dave Sandoval, here, guests can take special portraits with an on-site photographer and have these photos sent to them via email afterwards.

Because flowers serve as the ideal gift for mothers, Las Casas, Quezon City will be offering customized floral arrangements at a special rate for those who wish to purchase these special bouquets.

Every mother dining at the restaurant during this weekend will be receiving a sweet treat from Las Casas – a box of take-home pastries baked by their Pastry Chef.

The brand also launched its #DineSafeatLasCasasQC program just in time for the special occasion to make sure that Mother’s Day Weekend at Las Casas, QC is safe for all its guests and staff members. Every station of the buffet area will be manned by designated waiters, dressed in a mask, shield, and gloves for protection, this is just one among many of their safety precautions in place to ensure guests can enjoy their time in worry-free.

For more information about Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan and Quezon City, you may contact them through their official social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

%d bloggers like this: