Ms. Anna Alcantara
Owner, Managing Director, General Manager
Teazers, Inc.

Education:
AB Interdisciplinary Studies
Ateneo de Manila University

How long have you been working for the industry?

After I graduated from college, I worked for my family’s business. I started doing this full-time about 10 years ago.

What is your role as the Owner/Managing Director/General Manager?

Well, everything from finance to operations, sales marketing and troubleshooting. Anything that goes on in the business is basically me.

Tell us about your career path.

I was working in my family’s business for about two or three years. That gave me the exposure in terms of finance and dealing with people. Then we also have another business which allowed me to travel and build road shows. That was a very good first job experience for me. After that, I did Teazers full-time.

Why did you choose this industry?

When we just started, it was just something we were toying around with. We graduated from college, then after two years, we wanted to see if we can put up our own business. We opened one branch. Then one branch became two and five years became ten. We chose the industry because iced tea really appeals to us. We started out as a retail concept. We wanted to introduce fun, teasing iced teas to the market, because at that time, what was really available was just lemon. So we wanted to come in and see how can we make iced tea more fun and interesting so we came up with our first flavor, which is Calaman-tea. Then one flavor became 20, then 20 became 30. So what started out as a simple retail concept had grown to be a manufacturer of great-tasting iced teas.

What are the challenges facing your industry?

Well, there’s a lot of competition. It’s difficult to compete in the world where all the big guys can just put their foot down and close the door on you. But I think we are flexible enough to find our own niche and we’ve been okay doing that. Other challenges are the usual business challenges –pricing costs of inputs and raw materials, then your price has to stay where it was many years ago. It’s not easy to build your own business. It’s challenging yet it’s very fulfilling and rewarding. Finding good people who can really help you grow the business is also one challenge. It’s more challenging to find good people despite the fact that there are a number of people who do not have jobs right now.

How do you remain competitive as a leader in the field?

We try to evolve. We try to differentiate and we try to come up with something new. We have fun creating different flavors. Right now, our new concept –the Granita Bar –caters to a more formal and upscale market. The bar can cater to weddings and corporate gatherings. We can customize the drinks according to what the client wants. It’s a fun and dynamic way of doing the business. If I just stayed in the retail from year one to now, I might get bored so we really have to find ways of going beyond what you were in the beginning.

What are your most fulfilling experiences so far?

That my brand’s still alive after 10 years. That the people who have started with me from year one are still with me. Many of them have risen from the ranks. And also, people who are still happy with Teazers. I’m happy when I go to a mall and I see a person carrying a Teazers glass. I’m really excited about that.

What are your future plans for Teazers?

I plan to grow it into a competitive manufacturer of iced tea. I would say that there are still a lot of rooms for improvement and growth. We’ve expanded our product line and that’s one of the directions we planned for the company. Now, we plan to find different avenues to sell the product. Though we need a lot of prayers and hard work for this. We usually start out with a business management strategy every year so we can plot the direction of the company.

What is your advice to the people who want to be managers themselves?

More than anything and more than the knowledge you think you have, it’s really perseverance. It takes determination to believe in something and it takes the same determination to make it work. Keep on trying. Many times you fail, many times you get discouraged but if you’re really determined, everything will turn out just the way you plan it.