A recent graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with a major in Business Management, Renee Francesca King is motivated to turn Tamang Timpla Foods Inc., her food startup dedicated to pure and healthy Filipino food products, into an international success.

In 2006, Renee teamed up with fellow female students Jenica Cruz, Caroline Cua and Gabbie Ocampo to enter their university's School of Management Business Accelerator Program. The course enables participants to design and start their own business, with the guidance of professors and successful entrepreneurs from various industry sectors. The four aspiring businesswomen came up with the idea for Tamang Timpla Foods, Inc. and launched their pioneer product, Kusina Klassics Kalamansi Squeeze.

A refreshing idea

Calamansi, a small citrus fruit native to the Philippines, is widely used in food preparation, seasoning and drinks. However, it is difficult and time-consuming to prepare. Renee's idea was to develop Kalamansi Squeeze, a convenient, ready-squeezed calamansi concentrate with a shelf life of six months. Unlike existing products on the Filipino market, Kalamansi Squeeze is all-natural and contains no added sweeteners. Renee says, "By bottling calamansi extract, we're giving people a convenient and healthy source of calamansi while supporting local calamansi growers and creating new jobs."

From university project to fully-fledged enterprise

So far, the "Kalamansi Girls", as they were known at university, have successfully marketed their signature product in bazaars, Sunday markets and specialty shops within metropolitan Manila. Kalamansi Squeeze is already travelling the world, with customers buying it as a gift to send to their family and friends in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, America and beyond.

Moving forward, they hope to obtain certification, attesting to the product's adherence to local and international manufacturing standards, increase the product's shelf life to one year and develop a business strategy to expand sales to local supermarkets, restaurants, cafes caterers and hotels. The team has begun to tap these markets by exposing the product in various business expositions. Renee explains, "Our current focus is on improving our business communication skills so that we can enter new markets and increase production. With the help of the coaches from Cartier, McKinsey and INSEAD, we hope to optimize our strengths and overcome the challenges we face as an up-and-coming small business."

In the long term, Tamang Timpla Food, Inc. hopes to create new products and export them worldwide, especially to areas with significant numbers of overseas Filipino workers. For Renee, her business goes beyond being a food provider; it is a way of spreading Filipino culture around the world. She says, "I see food as a cultural vessel. I hope that our company's products will give people across the globe an appreciation of Filipino cuisine. We aim to be cultural ambassadors for our country."

Since winning the Award, Renee has seen Tamang Timpla Foods more than double in revenues. Through supplying local supermarkets and even a famous Filipino bakery chain, Kalamansi Squeeze is steadily becoming a presence in the market. She is currently planning to refine the packaging of her star product in order to export part of its pro­duction. The launching of a new calamansi product, the Kalamansi Jelly, is also underway. Already, it has received several inquiries from the export market.
The Award brought important changes to the company: "The most important impact is that the competition increased our compa­ny’s credibility and gave us a lot of exposure in the media. New stores agreed to carry our products and we have already received second pur­chase orders since then. We have been approached by distributors—even one from Singapore—and new suppliers too."