Sean: So we discussed how your people are maintaining safe distance. You mentioned some of those safety protocols. Now a follow up question is from Pam, what are your strategies for adapting your business to the new normal? So you discussed the protocols. How about pivoting? You mentioned the Juan Carlo to-go. You mentioned the selling of the unused perishable goods earlier. What else did you do to pivot your business?

JC: We tried a lot of things. Some things failed. Some things worked out. We looked at the strengths of the company. We looked at the core things that we have. We have a linen department. My linen staff said, Sir, we will produce face masks and so on. And then my purchasing department said, we have a list of all the suppliers, supply chain management. We can get the best rates and we can sell and compete. It worked for a short time, because SM was still close. So us, even in Batangas area, we are the one delivering the groceries that time. Here, the face masks, when there are still no good face mask cloth, we sewed it right away even if it’s simple just so my people have work to do. It’s not really for the business. It’s not in line honestly with the branding of Juan Carlo but we did it just to keep our people busy.

But you know, what I learned, Sean, It's really about sticking to your core. It's really about focusing on, zoning in on what you do best. And that's how we were able to help our people and help our business grow and go back and even thrive during the pandemic. Because we realize that life is still worth celebrating. That's our campaign, that's our motto. That's what we were always thinking in our heads that we still want to have intimate gatherings. Like your dream wedding shouldn’t end. The dream wedding you've always been planning for two years does not have to be postponed or canceled, even those intimate occasions at home, with Juan Carlo to-go. 

What we did was we innovated our food. We hired a new chef de cuisine. And we invested a lot of money in him. But we were not scared, we chose to double down and we’ve been really courageous. And we really focused on innovating our plated menu. Because right now it’s all intimate. And buffet is not really that in now. People want plated. And the brides and grooms and the people who want to have their parties, it’s like these are the few select people in your life that you're going to invite. So that means they want to go all in with the budget for these people. They wanted the food.

When you pay for plated service, yes, it's about the fact that they're being served like Kings and Queens. But what they pay for is really the artistry; how beautiful those plates look. The passion of the chef. His art translating it into a plate. What we did, we innovated, we had photo shoots of all these new plated menu and we had so many celebrity intimate gatherings during the pandemic - Idol Raffy Tulfo, Jane De Leon, it was her birthday, the one who was casted as Darna, AC Bonifacio. I’m missing some and we have upcoming celebrity intimate events.

There were a lot. I was shocked, bro. We really stuck to our guns and focused on high-end intimate events. It’s still the same. That's our core business. It's about how life is still worth celebrating in big events. I mean, not big in terms of, I mean high-end events. So that's what. I learned. You may try other things and so, but at the end of the day, you will still go back to your core. And that’s when your customers, they already know you for that, you don't need to go somewhere far.

Sean: I agree a hundred percent. Good to Great by Jim Collins also mentioned that. Right? Stimulate progress, but stick to your core.

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