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Margarita Fores made it as the Woman Entrepreneur of
the Year and Rajo Laurel as the Small Business Entrepreneur of
the Year 2007 of Ernst and Young. Both awards are
well-deserved and reflect SGV Ernst and Young serious effort
to tap young but very good entrepreneurs who could someday be
taipans in their own right.
Fores created Cibo, a chain of
restaurants that serve delectable and authentic Italian food with
the flair and flavor of Filipino cooking.
As an accounting graduate, Fores
first worked in a number of companies. Based in New York City in the
1980s, she frequented and became interested in the Italian cafés
that served southern Italian cuisine in a casual environment. Her
interest in Italy was further fuelled by her work as an assistant to
the vice president for licensing of the House of Valentino, a
renowned Italian fashion brand. The job exposed Fores to both
couture and the art of entertaining.
In 1986, her family returned to
the country but Ms. Fores decided to go to Florence, Italy,
enrolling in an Italian language school and in a culinary class
taught by a charming Italian signora, that provided her with an
appreciation for home-style Italian cooking.
Fores came back in 1987 and
started cooking and catering for family and friends. She was
invited by the Hyatt Regency to collaborate with the restaurant
Hugo’s executive chef for ’the Italian food festival, Italia in
Bocca, which was slated for two weeks. The success of the festival
launched her professional career as a chef and Italian food
enthusiast. In 1997, she opened the first Cibo outlet at the
Glorietta Mall in Makati.
Cibo’s initial success prompted
Fores to open branches in Metro Manila’s popular malls—Gateway,
Power Plant, Shangri-La Plaza, Alabang Town Center, Greenhills
Promenade, plus a branch in ABS-CBN’s compound in Quezon City. She
has just opened another branch in Greenbelt 5 in Makati City, which
features a tramezzinni bar concept to evoke the feel of an Italian
street café.
In 10 years, Fores has expanded
her market reach by opening other businesses, such as Café Bola, a
Filipino fusion restaurant. She created Pepato, the fine-dining
showcase for her catering business, Cibo di M which caters for
parties and business functions. She has also opened Fiori di M, a
floral artistry business she spun off from her catering division, as
well as Sostanza Healthline, which produces custom-made health and
wellness diet meals for delivery.
Fores’s expansion plans include
setting up Cibo branches in Singapore, Dubai and California. For
2008, she has lined up the opening of Casa di M, a home wares shop,
and Gastroteca di M, a delicatessen and home-meal replacement
emporium.
Meanwhile, Rajo or Raymund Joseph
Laurel is probably the best young fashion designer in the country
today.
At 11, he learned about different
fabrics from exploring the costume department of a theater company
his grandmother founded.
He took up Human Resource
Management from De La Salle and further studies at the Fashion
Institute of Technology in New York and Central St. Martins College
in London.
In 1993, Rajo, then 22, channeled
his entire life savings of P20,000, hired a sewer and a
seamstress and began designing pieces, mostly for former classmates
and family members. His business grew from a small rented apartment.
He took off quite quickly.
In 1993, Laurel won the Asean Young Designers Competition in
Singapore and awards such as Air France’s Young Designer of the
Year in 1994, Smirnoff Fashion Design Awards in 1995,’Most
Promising Designer of the Year in 1996, Asia Collection “Mukuhari
Grand Prix” in Japan in 1997, and The Loop’s (Editor’s Choice
Award) Favorite Designer in 1998.
Laurel has also been invited to
join shows and exhibitions abroad such as the Philippine Centennial
Show in Sydney, Saks Fifth Avenue Bridal Exhibition in New York and
the Ties That Bind: Shanghai-Philippines Expositions in Shanghai.
In 1996, Laurel formed Rajo
Laurel Enterprises (RLE), a garment company specializing in quality
couture made-to-order clothing. He also formed in 2002 Laurel et
Ross (LER), a garment company that manufactures corporate uniforms.
Two years later, in 2004, he opened House of Laurel, a boutique
carrying his line of ready-to-wear clothes and accessories for men,
women, expecting mothers and children.
Laurel has made separate business
entities for each of his ventures. RLE produces couture pieces for
an upscale market. LER produces custom-fit corporate uniforms and
caters mostly to corporations. Presently, LER creates uniforms for
all the Shangri-La hotels in the Philippines and Malaysia, as well
as some Shangri-La hotel chains in Beijing, Taiwan and Shanghai.
Recently, it also took on the Marriot Group in Sanya and Shanghai.
This year, the country’s very
own Max’s Fried Chicken will sport Laurel’s designs.
The House of Laurel produces
designer ready-to-wear pieces and caters to a value-based clientele.
Aside from its Makati store, it has a satellite store in Davao.
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