THERE’S no better way to ease and pamper one’s active bodies and busy minds than having a spa.
This is what ABCD Organics aims to do. It aims to relieve the customers of their internal problems while relaxing their physiques with its pure, organic, therapeutic grade essential and carrier oils.
Gaining from personal dilemma
FOR its chief executive officer (CEO), Neil Bernardo, it pays to face his own personal problem.
Suffering from severe acne, he turned to essential oils and realized that tamanu oil can help alleviate skin conditions. Having been able to successfully clear himself from this derma dilemma amid a lack of essential oil sources in the country, he decided to put up a business related to this.
The potential that he saw for plant-based and therapeutic-grade essential oils to make it in the local online marketplaces did not fail him. In fact, his foray into these products propelled him to further growth, thanks to the limited number of stores that offer similar items coupled with the high interest of consumers in aromatherapy.
Hands-on businessman
BERNARDO kicked off ABCD Organics on his own. With the help of his mother, the owner was very hands-on in managing his enterprise—from packing and marketing to quality checks.
“My mom did makeshift quality checks that included randomly throwing away boxes to ensure that the packaging is done correctly and not hastily,” he said.
Because his mom’s eyesight was poor, the CEO made the process easier for her by labelling his products in four-letter words along with appropriate colors for each product. This, eventually, proved effective to his customers alike as they could easily identify the products. For instance, oregano essential oil was labeled as “OGNO,” avocado as “AVCD,” and basil as “BASL.”
Starting with about 25 weekly orders, it did not take long before there was a growing demand for their products. With their growing trade, Bernardo’s mother soon tapped other family members to help in the logistics.
Sweet smell of success
ABCD Organics then became a hit with 150 to 200 orders per week just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic. The smell of success became sweeter when the country was placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) periods beginning mid-March of 2020.
Due to the importance given to essential oils as they bring comfort and remedy to the health and well-being of the people staying at home during the lockdown periods, ABCD Organics was included in the list of vendors who were allowed to deliver their products as they qualified as “essential” goods.
From a steady stream of orders during the company’s first few months, its sales grew a few weeks prior to the health crisis, hitting an average of 40 to 50 daily orders. Since such numbers continue until today, the family business had to outsource the fulfillment of orders. Luckily, it found a reliable logistics partner at the end of 2020.
“My sales are picking up because of the partnership. I have more time to focus on handling the marketing side of ABCD Organics because of Locad,” Bernardo shared.
Product line expansion
WITH mental health being a top concern this time of pandemic, the owner plans to expand in the next few months their portfolio of essential oil blends and hanging diffusers that are soothing to the minds of the consumers.
What’s more, he is expected to add artisanal soap bars and linen sprays to its roster of products.
Bernardo also looks forward to continue its partnership with Locad as it not only helps boost the sales of ABCD Organics but also frees him and his family from unnecessary worries.