Rochelle Rivera: Organique Acai Premium Blend

Cathy Salimbangon: The ‘Superwoman’ who brought us the ’Superfruit’

I was invited to the birthday party of a very successful pinay entrepreneur, Ms. Cathy Salimbangon, held at Shang Salcedo Place in Makati. Ms. Cathy Salimbangon is the CEO and VP for Marketing for Organique Inc., the company that provided us with one of the best food supplement known around the world, Organique ACAI. Ms. Cathy invited her friends to show her appreciation to all of the support and friendship through the years.

Ms. Cathy is also a registered nurse and has international license, she also worked in a nursing home abroad. And in 2009, together with her husband Mr. Joseph Elton Salimbangon, started the manufacture and distribution of Organique ACAI.

Many may be asking what is Acai. Well, Acai (pronounced as ah-sah-ee) is a berry that is considered a ‘superfood’ or ‘superfruit’ because it contains anti-oxidants, and other nutrients such as polyphenols that protects the heart, sterol that lowers the blood pressure, lutein for the eyes, and many other vitamins.

For almost a decade in the industry, Ms. Cathy has faced a lot of challenges, it even took them four years for their product to be certified by the USDA (united States Department of Agriculture). But with her hard work and the help of her husband, they were able to rise up against all of the obstacles in their way, and now, Organique Inc. is the only Filipino company with USDA seal of approval.

They not only gave us Organique ACAI, they also put up a small school at Cebu. The school’s curriculum was adapted from US and Canada, because of the focus on nurturing the child’s creativity and ethics before they’re introduced to academic subjects.

Despite being one of the most successful pinay business women, Ms. Cathy is also a mom, and I guess she’s getting all of the energy to perform her daily activities, from business trips and meetings at three in the morning, to taking care of their kid, from their very own, Organique ACAI.

Hearing everything from Ms. Cathy, I was so inspired that she was able to achieve more than what she asked for. Just like me, she was a nurse, who wants to help others, and dreamed big, yet she stayed as humble as she is when she started. Now, she’s a renowned business woman all over the world, I hope to be able to achieve the heights she has achieved.