By Carla Mortel-Baricaua
Photos by Teddy Pelaez
“When we started, we just wanted to share wellness,” says Cathy Turvill, founder, co-owner and president of Nurture Wellness Village.
With just a 500-square-meter property and four Ifugao huts as accommodations at the start, she then led a 10-person team and pioneered the spa and wellness industry in the country. Eighteen years later, with 1 and 1/2 hectare of land, 17 rooms and 150 employees, Nurture is now ready to grow beyond the confines of its market niche.
On its 18th anniversary event, Turvill and her team proudly disclosed partnerships, new service packages and product lines as part of Nurture’s introduction of its wellness lifestyle to the public. One such development is the creation of Wellness Coalition packages that ties together the medical and wellness industries in offering services that help people become healthier, happier and more productive. Dr. Sam Dizon MD, a licensed nurse, nutritionist and dietitian, will lead a team of medical professionals and create customized packages for individuals. For corporate groups, the Nurture’s Work Well Project will be offered where healthier lifestyles and team building activities aim to gain wellness and increased productivity.
In addition, a partnership with the International Health Services Department of Asian Hospital and Medical Center, represented by Chief Executive Andres Licaros Jr. and Chief Strategy Officer Sharon Hernandez, was forged so that local and international patients may avail themselves of executive checkups at the hospital, while wellness intervention packages will be offered at the Nurture Wellness Village to alleviate lifestyle-related health conditions.
Nurture also partnered with San Sage Advanced Aesthetic Clinic, headed by Dr. Michelle Rivera, for its advanced aesthetic treatments that utilize the latest noninvasive technology. Diagnostic services will also be available in Nurture through its partnership with the Health Peak Clinic led by Dr. Andrew Camara. According to Turvill, “now, we are bringing together medical and wellness to the international market,” since these services will allow travelers to experience transformative Filipino medical and wellness treatments in an ecotourism resort.
To help clients incorporate health and wellness practices into their daily lives, Nurture also launched the Nurture Farmacy retail range of plant-based products, such as bottled salads, dressing, jams, chips and dips, among others, as healthier alternatives to the ones available in the market. Nurture Farmacy Salad Solutions are bottled salads and dressings consisting of ingredients chosen to address specific conditions: glow for antiaging, protect for immune-boosting and purify for detoxification. Instead of salty and calorie-laden snacks, there is the Nurture Farmacy SuperChips made up of carrot, turmeric, tahong (mussel), malunggay, ampalaya chips and more. There is also the O’Kale crackling snack made from the superfood kale greens.The O’Kale range carries the superfood kale added with calamansi for a cold drink and dark chocolate as a hot drink.
Part of the proceeds of Nurture Farmacy products will be donated to Young Focus, a nonprofit organization which provides a comprehensive program of education, nutrition and values formation to the children of Tondo, an impoverished area in Manila.
The most highlighted announcement was the revelation of Nurture’s bold expansion plans that seek to consolidate all the developments in fostering the wellness lifestyle to future clients. “Nurture has matured so we are taking the next step. Our five- to 10-year plan envisions significant expansion. At the moment, we have several rooms. In the next five years, we will have 100 rooms with a complete ecosystem. Our product will include a mix with condominium units so you do not just come here for the weekend, you can live and experience the lifestyle we’ve been working so hard to make a reality. We will be promoting a lifestyle of wellness and Filipino culture beyond Tagaytay,” shares Jose Antonio Palma, the chief financial officer. “But, we’re definitely taking it one step at a time.”
Image credits: Teddy Pelaez