Oil from ‘darak’ joins wellness products

By Maricar Cinco

Inquirer Southern Luzon

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Wanting to make an edge over the many other health product makers emerging these days, Sherill Quintana “squeezed” her fortunes out of an agricultural waste that is used as animal feed.

After a thorough research for a possible source of therapeutic essential oil, Quintana stumbled upon the “darak” (rice gran), which was deemed to have no other benefits and thus commonly fed to hogs.

In 2008, she introduced Oryspa products – a selection of soap, anti-aging body oil, chili oil, body and foot scrub, shampoo and other health products that are being used in massage parlors in Laguna.

The products also include an insect repellent.

Quintana says she is the first in the country to use rice bran or the oryza sative bran extract that contains vitamin E, B-complex and anti-oxidants, as raw material in the wellness industry.

Low fund

From her handicraft business, Quintana shifted to health products in 2004, noting the sudden surge of spas and massage parlors.

“People became conscious of their health that they were willing to pay premium prices [for the services] perhaps because of too much exposure to chemicals and shorter life span as many are living sedentary lives,” she says.

But taking off from her small to medium enterprise (SME), she says it was an “internal crisis” to penetrate the already tight competition of big corporations in the wellness industry.

“We didn’t have the marketing support to compete. Imagine, just the printing of brochures costs P100,000 already! So I thought, in order to penetrate, we had to cut above the rest. We had to pioneer a product in the local market so they would take notice of us,” said Quintana.

The most common health products then used were almond and grape seed oils, which she says were quite expensive as these were not readily available in the Philippines.

As for the virgin coconut oil, which became a popular health product, “I have nothing against VCO, but we found out that the oil deteriorates, meaning its vitamin contents are lost, after being heated. Also, all the others are already doing VCO. We needed to have something with an added value,” she says.

Quintana embarked on a three-year research with the Department of Trade and Industry and found the benefits of a rice bran extract.

“This is not actually new to cosmetic lines. Asian beauties in Japan and Korea had been using the oryza sativa centuries before. Only here, we were used to it as an animal feed,” she says.

Quintana also says another advantage is that the rice bran can be applied topically and is quickly absorbed by the skin as an exfoliant.

“We even sometimes joke around: so that is why hogs have smooth skin,” she says.

In 2009, the International Rice Research Institute here recognized and carried the Oryspa product line.

Harmless

“I have four kids and they are all asthmatic. So I have to find [products] that will not harm them,” Quintana says.

She says her family’s demand was always her “cue” even before she embarked on the research.

“The [Oryspa] shampoo, for instance, we use that at home just to make sure we know what’s in it – unlike when you buy shampoo that usually uses chemicals,” Quintana says.

She says her kids, the youngest being six months old, also inspired her calming oil, which she eventually called the “happy baby oil.”

“My kids would always ask me for a massage, lest they would be up until midnight. Kids are very hyperactive these days,” she says.

Quintana says introducing a new product line that is almost double the price of synthetic products was a big challenge for her.

“There were a lot of convincing of spa [owners] to cut their profit just so they would use better products for their service,” she says.

But she would assure them, “that they would surely keep their customers coming back because of the long-term benefits.”

Today, Oryspa caters to 10 medical clinics and spas in Laguna, including Aqua Spa of the Splash Mountain Resort here, and one in Laoag City in Ilocos.

Proudly Pinoy

Most SMEs are vying for the export market, but not hers, Quintana says.

She says she had turned down offers to open a manufacturing plant abroad.

“You would surely be attracted to the monetary [benefits], but for me, not now,” Quintana says.

She believes that the local market has all the potentials to develop its products for its own consumption first.

As an entrepreneur, Quintana also believes a research-backed product will always make a long-term niche in the market.

“It is quite hard specially for SMEs which, we understand, need to reap the profits immediately. But it pays to take time researching about the product that will surely be able to penetrate the market. We take pride in developing products that are Pinoy-made and that enhance sustainable lifestyle,” she adds.