Tealive's Aren Caramel (Kaong Sugar Caramel) Series

I usually tend to associate sugar with cane sugar. In this case, Tealive (read my review here) uses a sugar known as gula aren. I did some research and found out that Gula Aren is made from the sap of the sugar palm tree. The fruit is also known as kaong in the Filipino language. Granted, the Filipino language also derives from the Malaysian and Indonesian languages--it may be derived from the Indonesian word kolang kaling. The Philippines may also be producing its own gula aren or palm sugar. Sugar palm or kaong is pretty much grown as a staple in Filipino cooking too.

Here's a video from an Indonesian woman. Watching this, it's safe to assume that kaong farmers in the Philippines follow more or less the same routine. Maybe, some people may call it latik though latik is made from coconut milk and not coconut sap. Though, some Filipinos may still call palm sugar as latik. The video above also shows an Indonesian binignit with some kaong. I was shocked to learn kaong is also used in Indonesian curries too.

I tried Tealive's palm sugar caramel series. The drink I tried contained both palm sugar caramel and caramel jelly. It's a different experience to taste dark sugar derived from palms over sugar cane. I guess Tealive's use of palm sugar is because it's popular in Malaysia. I think a reason why it's becoming a hit in Southeast Asia is the prevalence of the use of kaong.

The Marketing Interactive shows the marketing done by Bryan Loo himself.

Tealive is expanding into Manila and has appointed Mike Dumaual to lead its operations as GM. The Southeast Asian tea chain said on LinkedIn that Dumaual will be leading the charge on business operations across the Philippines, including store expansion strategy and boosting the Tealive brand to be Philippines’ preferred lifestyle tea brand.
Meanwhile, Dumaual has over 22 years of experience with a focus on marketing and brand management, in the F&B and FMCG sectors with such as Mang Inasal, Jollibee, and Burger King. “I’m truly excited to lead Tealive’s grand entry into the Philippine market, knowing how milk tea-crazy this country is. The ambition is not just to make it a milk tea player but a major and respected F&B lifestyle brand that Filipinos will love," he said.
Bryan Loo (pictured), CEO of Loob Holding, told A+M that the Philippines is its first market entry together with its new private equity partner Creador. "Filipinos are, no doubt, huge lovers of milk tea products in Southeast Asia. Together with Creador's extensive local resources in the Philippines, we decided to enter this market to build the next well-loved homegrown milk tea brand. He said:
Our vision is to expand 30 outlets by the end of 2022 and double our store count every other year.

It may be noticed that Filipinos tend to have this fondness for coconut products. An Indian restaurant can gain many Filipino customers through the use of coconut milk (gata ng niyog). Palm sugar is no different. Several Filipino desserts such as biko, puto, bibingka, maja blanca, and summan use some coconut-based ingredients. Some Filipino desserts use palm sugar. I wonder if Loo himself tasted Filipino desserts before entering the Philippines. Maybe, its current CEO Ahmad Fikry Ahmad Ibrahim may have gone to the Muslim-dominated areas of Mindanao to taste their desserts. Desserts like dadar gulung (coconut pancake) are pretty much similar to Indonesia and Malaysia. However, there seems to be no Tealive branch in Mindanao yet according to a Google search I did. Hopefully, they will open one in some feasible areas in Mindanao soon

After drinking the beverage, I had an impression of the flavor found in several Filipino desserts. I did get to taste breadfruit (known as kulo in Filipino) dipped in latik while I was in Surigao City. Drinking the beverage brought my memories of having tasted latik in Surigao. I guess this similarity gave Tealive an advantage in the Southeast Asian market. I'd say I'm impressed by their palm sugar series. It seems to give me something new while giving me something I missed from way back.

Has Passing Down Hatred for Singapore (Because of Flor Contemplacion) Economically Helped the Philippines?

PEH.ph It was on March 17, 1995, when Flor Contemplacion was executed in Singapore. I've noticed that I've been addressing her as the late many times, even if the late is a statement that may be ony appropriate if the person has been recently deceased within 10 years. It's about to become 30 years since Flor was hanged in Singapore. However, generational hatred would've been passed down from 1995 up to 2025. Some people are still tagging #JusticeFor Flor. These traits may be passed down from the Batang 1990s to their children in this generation. It may also be passed down from parent to child, even if the child was born in the 2000s to 2010s. Somebody born in 2000s and beyond might even say, "Papa and mama told me about Flor Contemplacion! That's why I hate Singapore!" Talk about a child born in 2004 who's probably angry with Singapore, because his parents kept telling him about how Flor was supposedly "unjustly treated" over there. Some tim...

It's A Myth: First World Countries Self-Industrialized and Only Opened to FDI, After They Succeeded

The Straits Times As the battle for economic charter change goes on, another lie often spread: "First world countries, first industrialized by themselves, before they opened their economy to FDI." I'm seeing it ironically on Facebook. I tell them, "If you hate foreigners so much, why don't you get out of the Internet?" Some of them give replies like, "We're not hypocrites for badmouthing FDI on Facebook. We're simply forced to use imported equipment because foreigners unfairly own the means of production (read rebuttal here )." When I ask for their sources, they give sources like people from Bayan Muna (Nation First), the League of Filipino Students, the IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist (Youth Partylist), the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), and maybe even the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Most of these sources (not all) are the favorite sources of those going against badly needed economic cha-cha. I...

Why FDIs are Choosing COMMUNIST Vietnam Over DEMOCRATIC Philippines

China Daily HK Tomorrow is Ho Chi Minh's birthday. I would like to raise another FDI issue between democratic Philippines and Communist Vietnam. I remember with a certain woman I'll call Miss Clueless, to respect her privacy. Miss Clueless probably never saw a map, called FDI as Favored Duterte-China Investments, and I told her the bigger problem with the constitutional restrictions. Miss Clueless kept talking about that the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III made us a tiger economy, regardless. However, I wrote that relying too much on Noynoy's economic legacy, is pretty much landing into the same fatal mistake that Nokia did . Relying on past successes is a surefire recipe for failure. As Miss Clueless blamed former president Rodrigo R. Duterte, the person still believes that people must change first before systems. I asked her, "Why are people choosing Communist Vietnam over the Philippines." The reason I heard from Miss Clueless was something...

Is Jollibee "Invading" South Korea Now as It's About to Acquire 70% of Shabu All Day?

I must confess that I find this new rather hilarious . It's because the word shabu is often associated with drugs. All the while, shabu shabu is a Korean delicacy! Well, I'm going to say that Jollibee Foods Corporation has now become a multinational buyer . Jollibee acquired 70% of Compost Coffee back in 2024 . This year, Jollibee as a multinational corporation is now acquiring Shabu All Day for PHP 5.1 billion pesos. Is Jollibee checkmating South Korea or is the Philippines conquering South Korea not just by OFWs but als through Jollibee? The answer is still no. From GMA News , we can read this article by Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas: Under the deal, Shabu All Day will be consolidated into Jollibee Foods Corp.’s (JFC) financial statements immediately upon completion of the acquisition for a total consideration equivalent to KRW127 billion. Completion of the transaction is subject to closing and financing conditions. The acquisition is expected to lead to a 2% jump in revenues, incre...

Helping Others is Good But Not to One's Own Expense

I advocate for helping others. I believe in helping others but there were times I overdid it. One time, I gave up so much that I had to be stopped. I was told, "If you gave everything now, how can you help others later?" I would donate some sums here and there, without thinking much. I'm not going to write them all. Some of them left me good while others left a bad taste (and a bad record) for me to endure. Sure, I want to help people but I tend to overlook the consequences. Some of the bad habits I had in the name of helping others are like: Being too generous with buying with credit. Eventually, I lost a lot of money which was never recovered . Some seasoned entrepreneurs may admit their own falls including the credit trap pitfall. Being too willing to give a discount without thinking about how it'd affect profits. Sure, a cheap price can draw people near. However, there are times when the prices of goods and services need to be raised to keep a business running. I ...

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