Since I started my marketing career, I’ve always enjoyed the whole NPD process as it was that part of my job that enabled me to become both creative and analytical. I felt most alive when I worked with artists on designing packaging labels, shortlisting jars and bottle with packaging engineers, picking scents and ingredients with chemists, and even meeting suppliers to check out their latest innovations. I’m very thankful that Splash Corporation allowed me to experience all these (thanks Doc and Ms. Glenda! 🙏🏻).
Now that I’m working for a multinational company, creating new products hasn’t been that “exciting” as before as most developments are done centrally by the global headquarters. Nothing wrong here – I understand that economies of scale and scope are important to be competitive. But a part of me still craves for that whole excitement of actually giving birth to a product that you can truly consider your own.
So here I am now, satiating that NPD thirst with Luisa’s. It’s actually not mine – I’m just helping out my mom as I feel her gardening talent has huge potential especially now that almost everything, including food, is being faked (Backstory: yesterday, my mom cooked pizza and it was so weird that the mozzarella and cheddar cheese she bought did not melt even if it was baking in the oven for >15mins! It looked like burnt plastic seriously. We baked another batch but this time using a different brand and it melted just like any normal/real cheese would do).
Aside from the rampant distribution of fake food, this is also a good avenue to put to productive use the things I learned in business grad school and my sister’s uber-marketable art direction and graphic design skills.
Luisa is actually our grandmother. She, like our mom, is head-over-heels obsessed with plants and farming that up until today (she’s in her 80s), she’s still very hands-on with the operations of her farm in Bicol. She visits the uma (ricefields) on a daily basis to check on the crop and everything planted there. Naming the products after her was a no-brainer as the green thumb genes come from her side of the family.
In a nutshell, Luisa’s is all about eco-friendly and sustainable gardening for your culinary and greenery creations. It offers fresh and sun-dried herbs, spices, food, and plants that are ready for cooking and cultivating at the comfort of your home. Luisa’s enables you to live the good life by allowing you to cook and grow your own food the healthiest and most organic way possible.
My mom is targeting to launch this by June. Right now, Lai and I are helping her with all the branding, product portfolio creation, digital promotions, etc. as these are what we actually do on a daily basis. Once in place, my mom will take it from there.
I’ll post more about this Passion Project as we make significant progress on the branding and marketing strategy. Stay tuned. ✌️
FATIMA ESPINEDA 