{"id":92,"date":"2009-09-04T15:51:48","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T15:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=92"},"modified":"2012-09-04T15:56:33","modified_gmt":"2012-09-04T15:56:33","slug":"zen-zest-a-zest-for-scents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/zen-zest-a-zest-for-scents\/","title":{"rendered":"Zen Zest: A Zest for Scents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Practical business sense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That, says Michelle Dula Asence, was the impetus of the start of Zen Zest, a Filipino-owned body and bath company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I began the business, the population of the Philippines was about 80 million. Now, if just one million Filipinos who take a bath and use scents, buy my products, then I\u2019ll be rich. Lahat naman naliligo, \u2018di ba?<\/em> (Everybody takes a bath, right?)\u201d Asence was earlier quoted as saying to Enterprise Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And it is in feeding vanity that Zen Zest thrives \u2013 in the observation that, \u201cno matter how tough the economy gets, Filipinos still find the time and budget to hunt for and buy products that will make them look good and feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

No wonder that just five years after the company opened, it already had 33 outlets in the country, plus outlets in Bahrain and Japan.<\/p>\n

Good business sense can only go so far, though, as Asence proves \u2013 she, herself, has fondness for beauty products, particularly perfumes, something she attributes to have inherited from her late uncle, journalist Rod Dula, who had \u201call the perfumes that came out,\u201d and who had about 300 bottles of perfumes when he passed away. Dula\u2019s encouragement \u2013 and approximately P300,000 in capital loaned from her parents \u2013 helped bring Zen Zest into being.<\/p>\n

That was in 2001.<\/p>\n

After conducting a feasibility study, Asence discovered that there was no local brand of complete body and bath care products available in the market. \u201cThe imported brands were very expensive,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI\u2019d buy an imported body scrub, but since it was so expensive, titipirin ko \u2018yung gamit, hindi ko magagamit araw-araw. Ayaw ko \u2018yun. Gusto ko \u2018yung laging magagamit (I would use it sparingly. I couldn\u2019t use it every day. I didn\u2019t like that. I wanted a product that I could afford to use each time).\u201d<\/p>\n

Asence was not even discouraged by the fact that when she started Zen Zest, the Philippines was just recovering from the Asian financial crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything for me is an opportunity. There is no setback for me,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Asian financial crisis was something good that happened to me. Ang mga tao, nagsimulang magtipid<\/em> (People started to be more frugal), even in their beauty and body products\u2019 expenditures. They could no longer afford the usual imported products so they shifted to local items. Like me, they looked for cheaper but good-quality alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps a little-known fact is that Asence, herself, did almost everything when Zest Zest just started \u2013 e.g. after training for about three months under a chemist, she learned how to formulate and prepare concoctions that resulted in her initial products of cologne, hand sanitizer, lotion, perfume, and soap; and she, too, personally packaged the products, delivered them, and arranged them for display in her first outlet in SM Megamall.<\/p>\n

Asence proudly claimed that she was able to grow the business from its initial investment alone, and, to date, she has not made any bank loan to support or expand the business.<\/p>\n

After its opening in May 2001, Zen Zest already grew into five outlets by December of the same year. And to date, fragrances \u2014 body sprays, colognes, and eau de toilettes \u2014 account for about 50% of Zen Zest\u2019s total sales. Female patrons, from seven-year-olds to grandmothers, make up the majority of its clients, though men are also a growing market.<\/p>\n

Zen Zest has undergone numerous changes since its inception \u2013 mainly obvious in the reengineered labeling and packaging that puts it at par with imported brands [\u201cAng produkto, parang tao \u2018yan (A product is like a person). Like a plain Jane, after undergoing treatment by a cosmetic surgeon, looks so much better. Ganoon din ang produkto \u2014 simpleng produkto lang (A product is the same\u2014it begins as a simple item), but with an improved appearance and package, iba na rin ang dating (its quality goes up),\u201d Asence said].<\/p>\n

It is the re-imagined Zen Zest that broke the international market for the company, as it braved the markets of neighboring Asian countries, including Japan, where the cocktail collection of \u201cnight life\u201d scents that are named after drinks such as Cosmopolitan, Margherita, and White Russia are big hits.<\/p>\n

Yet another way for Zen Zest to grow that Asence realized is through franchising. \u201cFranchising is also better because we\u2019re like one big happy family, for my franchisees are my friends. Also through franchising, it would be easier for the company to focus on R&D, and other aspects of the business,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Franchising Zen Zest costs P150,000 (inclusive of a cart and P50,000 worth of items, offered at 50% discount to franchisees).<\/p>\n

To keep Zen Zest on top, Asence believes in keeping its products affordable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have lower profits than no sales at all. Last Christmas, we offered gift packs for only P99. Mahirap gawin \u2018yun, ang ganda pa (That was hard to do, and the pack were so nice to look at). We had to sacrifice our profits; at least, the Christmas shoppers bought from us and not from the more expensive competition. In this business and in this country, the businesses can\u2019t demand from the customers. Dapat kung ano \u2018yung kaya nila, \u2018yun dapat ang bibigay namin<\/em>\u00a0(What the customers can afford, that\u2019s what you should give them),\u201d Asence ended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is in feeding vanity that Zen Zest thrives \u2013 in the observation that, \u201cno matter how tough the economy gets, Filipinos still find the time and budget to hunt for and buy products that will make them look good and feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":94,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,16,12],"tags":[63,62,60,61],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beauty-and-fashion","category-industry-profiles","category-product-showcase","category-spa-trade","tag-bath-products","tag-body-products","tag-michelle-dula-asence","tag-zen-zest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}