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The Lagdameos’ Going Nuts over Donuts
Written by: Dakudao, Michael Angelo E.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
FROM the throng of friends, relations, and members of the Davao media who showed up at the inauguration of Davao’s first ever Go Nuts Donuts store at the Abreeza Mall last June 25, Ambassador Antonio “Tonet” M. Lagdameo and his loving wife, Mrs. Linda Floirendo-Lagdameo, are indeed well-esteemed in this city. The ever supportive parents, Don Antonio and Doña Nenita Floirendo, made their loving presence felt and helped in welcoming the guests along with the good-looking and highly-educated Floirendo-Lagdameo siblings namely Davao del Norte Congressman Antonio Ernesto “Anton” F. Lagdameo, Jr., Jose Manuel “JM” F. Lagdameo, Ricardo Luis “Cary” F. Lagdameo and Caterine Beatriz “Rina” F. Lagdameo who flew in from Manila to grace the affair. The three other Lagdameo daughters who didn’t make it were Ma. Elena Pilar, Ma. Regina Victoria and Ma. Isabel Dominique.
Go Nuts Donuts is, of course, the all Filipino donut brand that revitalized the Philippine donut scene in the country. Go Nuts Donuts has been a resounding success since it first opened for business on December 11, 2003, with its first flagship theatre store located at the Bonifacio Global City in Manila. Despite the dominance of the mass-produced and mass marketed American donuts of Dunkin Donuts and Mr. Donuts in the estimated six billion peso donut industry, I am keeping my fingers crossed that in due time, Filipino consumers’ demand for our very own Go Nuts Donuts will make it the number one choice. There’s Jollibee’s “big success” in the hamburger business for inspiration showcasing the best of Filipino culinary and marketing ingenuity. Indeed, the Filipino can prevail!
It was Cary F. Lagdameo who so kindly enlightened me on the perfect fit of the partnership between the Floirendo-Lagdameo family with that of the Trillana family’s The Doughnut People, Inc., the people behind Go Nuts Donuts. Cary serves as head of Corporate Finance and Investor Relation, Corporate Information Officer and Director of the IPVG Corporation. He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Columbia Business School (of Columbia University), New York, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts Interdisciplinary Studies degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Cary’s working experience include employment as Marketing Assistant for ING Boring Bank; and General Manager of the Lagdameo family’s Carrije Cargo, Inc. and the Je Suis Gourmand, Inc. Best of all, Cary married the former Christina “Tina” O. Trillana on August 20, 2004. She is the daughter of the late Francis Trillana (Chairman of one of the country’s top advertising agencies called Lowe Philippines) and Mrs. Sonjie O. Trillana. Cary and Tina have two kids they adore namely Celine and Paco.
Tina Trillana’s family has this penchant for reinventing popular American brands into their own Filipino version. Among the food products they introduced to the Philippine market were the Coney Island Ice Cream (my favourite creamy ice cream of 3 decades ago), Whammos (chocolate version of the well-loved Hostess Twinkies of the USA), Mr. Juicy and Candy Clouds. By the way, Go Nuts Donuts is the Trillana family’s version of the American Krispy Kreme.
Tina studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. This young, entrepreneurial woman has an Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts and is Safe Serve certified. The determined lady first worked as a line cook in New York’s Tableu Restaurant; and later, was the Catering Manager of the well-known Dean and Deluca Restaurant.
It was Tina who worked with American technology partners to develop recipes for the perfect Pinoy donut. The Trillanas initially came out and sold Happy Donuts at Christmas bazaars to test the market before venturing into the Bonifacio Global City Go Nuts Donuts store. Go Nuts Donuts became an instant hit in Manila creating long queues which included my cousins and myself lining up with maximum tolerance. Mind you, but it was worth every Go Nuts Donut (regular, premium or prime) we lined up for then. By 2009, Go Nuts Donuts averaged 20,000 donuts per day! These Pinoy, handmade donut goodies are of the yeast-raised variety which accounts for their “softer and lighter, melt-in-the-mouth texture.”
“We offer a premium product with a mass price. I think we’ve been rewarded because people buy our donuts by the boxes. Go Nuts Donuts are less sweet, are slightly bigger by 20%, and lasts longer with a shelf life of 3 days,” explained Michael O. Trillana, the Business Development Director and elder brother of Marketing Director Tina Trillana-Lagdameo.
“Donuts is a thoroughly American sweet invention of the 19th century. Bringing home a box of Go Nuts Donuts is like bringing a little of America to a Pinoy home,” Michael convinced me with confidence. As the slogan goes, “Go Nuts Donuts—More than just Great Donuts!
Go get your sugar fix. Go nuts over donuts.
Mindanao Times