THE OLDEST running distillery in the Philippines, Destileria Limtuaco & Co, Inc. — founded in 1852 — just released its newest product: a sparkling sangria.
Maria Clara Sparkling Sangria was launched on June 10 at the Azadore restaurant in Quezon City. It follows the footsteps of older sister Maria Clara Sangria, first blended in 1985 by Julius Limpe, of the fourth generation. His daughter, Olivia Limpe-Aw, now leads the distillery, and is ushering her sons, of the sixth generation, into the company.
“It was created as a tribute to the Filipina woman, and celebrating the spirit of a vibrant blend of resilience, grace, courage, and strength,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw in a speech. Prior to this launch, they had released different variants of her father’s sangria (a wine cocktail of fruit juice and wine). At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, they developed the Maria Clara Virgin Sangria, with 0% alcohol, then followed that up with a Halal-certified mix called Maria Clara Punch. “We believe that every community deserves a seat at the table,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw. The new sparkling sangria has 7% alcohol and is served in a 330-milliliter can.
Ms. Limpe-Aw said that the sparkling version was developed by her sons, whom she introduced: Clifford Limpe-Aw sits as vice-president for operations, Aaron James is executive vice-president, and Brandon serves as national sales manager (and was the DJ for the evening). “This is now their contribution to our Filipino consumers,” she said.
The company is also behind White Castle Whisky and Napoleon VSOP brandy, among other spirits. The company currently has a presence in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore; with a smaller market in the US and Europe.
“We blend the cocktail, and after we blend it, we carbonate it. It sounds simple, but it’s quite a complex process also,” Ms. Limpe-Aw said of the sparkling sangria.
Meanwhile, Aaron Limpe-Aw discussed why they figured a fizzy drink was the way to go. “We’re going after a younger market for our liquor. More and more, the Philippines has the highest percentage of young people. We’re one of two countries in the world with an average age of about 25 to 26 years. We have to really cater to a younger market.”
Mr. Limpe-Aw unbuttoned his shirt to show off their new line which was printed at the back of his T-shirt: a range of non-alcoholic mixers like ginger ale, tonic, and soda water.
Ms. Limpe-Aw discussed the need for innovation with BusinessWorld, as well as independence from importation, which was the impetus for the creation of the new line of mixers: “We’re importing a lot of these, and I think it’s not too difficult to produce. Why not make it locally?
“Things we can make, we should be making it ourselves,” she said. “If we can make it, there will be less demand for imports.”
THE OLDER, THE BETTERAs with wine, some things just get better with age. The distillery is celebrating its 173rd year of operations, and the Limpe-Aw family clued us in on how they’ve managed to hold on to the family business for that long.
“We take succession planning very seriously,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw. “We exposed them at a young age. We try to teach them whatever we can, all aspects of the business as they’re growing up, and becoming more mature. They have to really do the rounds in the business.”
Mr. Limpe-Aw (Aaron, again), said, “The trick is really to have the next generation involved, and want to be involved.”
He added, “You have to minimize internal conflict.”
Mother and son discuss the advantages of the company still being family-owned and operated. She said, “You can keep your trade secrets within the family. We’re not pressured to keep on producing for growth. When you want to innovate sometimes, it takes time. We can take our time to come up with new products, processes, and formulations. It’s all within the family. We’re building on what we know… we’re not starting from scratch.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Limpe-Aw said, “We get to talk about things a lot. It (the company) is like a part of the family.
“That makes it more flexible. We get to make decisions very quickly.”
For now, Maria Clara Sparkling Sangria is just available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide. — Joseph L. Garcia
