LIFE IN THE NEW PHILIPPINES METRO SANTA ROSA Santa Rosa Magazine's SPECIAL FEATURES Section Home   Videos   Enchanted Kingdom   San Lazaro   SM Fashion   Aquabest   PBSP   SONA   Lea Salonga   Education Revolution (L to R) Almira Antiporda, Aquabest Corporate Communications Head; Joel Cruz, Aquabest Marketing & Communications Manager, Jacque Ruby, CEO of Discovery Channel Philippines; Ria Damian, Discovery Marketing & Events. AQUABEST TIES UP WITH DISCOVERY CHANNEL AQUABEST, the Philippines' most eco-conscious supplier of drinking water, and DISCOVERY, the most influential educational cable TV channel, have teamed up in an innovative partnership for a series of special events. SkyCable is the major provider of Discovery Channel in the Philippines, and also now complements this with the country's fastest broadband internet connection.       The photo above shows the ceremonial passing of Aquabest Bottled Water to mark the start of this new partnership. Watch this space for more news as it becomes available! ********* ********* ********* The Shift Happens campaign is expected to last a year. GQWEST INC., THE PHILIPPINES' PREMIER WATER FRANCHISE COMPANY is "shifting" to improve its business model and the culture of drinking water in the Philippines.       Recently, the company introduced its Shift Happens campaign which would lead to the upgrading of its water refilling stations and the launch of new innovations, including the company's Combostore concept and its Structured Bottled Water.       The Combostore franchise integrates three tried, tested, and successful concepts into one. Bundled in the package are GQWEST's Aquabest, Laundrybest, and Oxyplus brands. Aquabest is the company's flagship brand, which is shifting to offer structured water. Laundrybest is the firm's Laundromat franchise, while Oxyplus is their oxygenated alkaline water brand. Individually, the brands are all very successful and widely known; together they form a revolutionary and holistic way of looking at the water franchise industry.       Franchisees of the Combostore stand to benefit from the expanded target market and synergies resulting from the fusion of the three brands. This triples their opportunities and chances for success without spending to individually invest in the three brands. The concepts offer a faster return period and better margins. Compared to other water franchising concepts, it is more efficient and sustainable. It does this by maximizing the use of every resource from the water to the manpower of each store.       "We believe that people now prefer products with added value. In line with this we would like to shift our stores from merely providing clean water to also helping keep them healthy," says Tan. Furthermore, Tan believes that the introduction of structured water will induce a paradigm shift in the way people view and consume water.       The Structured Bottled Water is the company's new bottled water line. Unlike other types of bottled water in the market, it is the only bottled water with structured water. Structured water is the company's effort to bring the water back to life and restore its original properties. The company will initially distribute the Structured Bottled Water in its nationwide network of dealers, but eventually plans to offer it in convenience stores and supermarkets.       Aquabest has a nationwide network of around 500 stores and is considered among the leading players in the water franchising industry. The campaign would involve upgrading the individual stores with the company's exclusive Grander Technology.       In the Philippines, Grander technology is exclusively licensed to GQWEST by its developers in Austria. The device enhances water by altering its molecular structure to allow for better absorbtion by the body. The company says it expects to complete the campaign in a year.       GQWEST's CEO, Carson Tan, regards the move as part of its planned efforts to keep up with the changing industry landscape. "Water has come a long way from being a luxury product in the 1990's to its current status as a commodity today. However, we are now seeing a paradigm shift about to happen where added value, not price, would be the primary motivator for the consumer," he said.                                                                                                                       - Almira Antiporda (Graphic courtesy of Aquabest.) ********* ********* ********* Read more about World Environment Day on the United Nations website. AQUABEST'S GREEN MINDSET GQWEST INC JOINED THE WORLD IN CELEBRATING and working towards the ideals of World Environment Day, which was started in 1972 and aims to stimulate environmental awareness and spur public action. Since then it has been celebrated every year on June 5. This year the theme for the celebrations was Forests: Nature At Your Service. The campaign raised awareness about forests and helped stop and reverse deforestation by promoting sustainable forest management, while moving towards a green economy.       The company has long recognized the importance of forest conservation not just for the maintenance of the environment but also to ensure the continuity of its business. That is why the company has long supported environmental conservation initiatives. It also began its own tree planting campaign but still continued to look for ways to innovate with its corporate shared values program. That is why the company launched its "Green Mindset" campaign. *** ***       The campaign was launched with the grand vision of eventually giving back more than it takes. From its beginnings as a tree planting program the company decided to expand it to make greater contributions to the betterment of society. "We started the program after seeing the impact of environmental degradation, which affects our business by diminishing the water supplies our stores, rely on," says Carson Tan CEO of GQWEST.       In recognition of its origins, the company plans to upgrade their participation with the Haribon Foundation's tree planting efforts. The company plans to employ local residents in the tree-planting site to take care of the tree planted. Hiring the locals will provide them livelihood while at the same time increasing the survival rates of the plants.       Expanding from its tree planting roots is the company's efforts to make its operations carbon neutral and reengineer them so all its activities contribute to the program. This will make the program not only sustainable but also indistinct from the company's day-to-day operations.       Another is the combostore concept that maximizes water usage by integrating a Laundromat with the water store utilizing the 60 percent of a stations water input normally discarded as part of the water filtration process. They also use environmentally friendly detergents eliminating any pollutants as well as technology to use less detergent.       "The combostore, is part of our efforts to show that eco friendliness and business can coexist. You don't have to choose between profit and being environmentally conscious, with innovation you can integrate them," says Tan.       Complementing the resource efficiency measures it practices is the recycling program it instituted for its plastic bottles. The company also plans to reduce their energy consumption, by utilizing solar panels to provide part of their stores power needs.       Through these initiatives, the company hopes to do its share in spreading the ideals of WED. The company understands that it cannot do it alone but it believes that it can serve as an example for other companies to follow. It hopes that the success of the Green Mindset Program will show other companies that being profitable and being ecofriendly can go hand in hand.                                                                                                                   - by Almira Antiporda (Photo courtesy of Aquabest.) You can find out more more about Aquabest at www.aquabest.com.ph IT'S SCHOOL TIME AGAIN! BACK TO SCHOOL KEEP IT COOL with Aquabest! It's school time again! Parents everywhere particularly mothers are probably feeling excited and nervous as their children go back to school.       Mothers usually have to worry about so many details as their children get back to school. From making sure everything is ready for your child, to waking up on time, and most importantly keeping them healthy. Apart from, preparing nutritious baon for their children, moms should also pay attention to the water their children drink. Contaminated water can cause a multitude of water borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhus, among others. These not only cause your child to miss school but can also threaten their lives.       That is why; mothers should choose the water they give their children well, that is why they should choose Aquabest. Offering a completely new type of water, Structured Water, Aquabest offers water that is not only clean but also has health benefits. Structured water builds upon and improves water's inherent rejuvenating and healing properties.       Water from natural sources like streams and rivers can be considered "alive" with healing and rejuvenating properties with a highly symmetrical structure. However, pollutants and the high pressure and chemicals used for water treatment and transport disorder and strips water of these beneficial qualities rendering them "dead". Structured water helps bring the water back to life and restore its original properties. This feat is achieved using advanced technology called Grander technology developed from Austria and exclusively licensed in the country to the country.       To get an idea of how Grander technology works picture this. Imagine your cells are doors with the water molecules as people trying to get inside. With ordinary water, these people are disorganized making entry slow laborious and inefficient. With structured water, picture these people lining up in neat lines causing entry to be faster and more efficient. This allows structured water to offer superior hydration by penetrating each cell to its core.       Aquabest also utilizes the latest filtration technology including reverse osmosis filters. Reverse osmosis is the same technology used by NASA to supply fresh water for space missions. The advanced multistage filter along with the reverse osmosis technology eliminates all bacterial, viral, chemical, and mechanical contaminants in the water. So with structured water you not only get clean water you also get healthy water.       So why take a risk with your child's wellbeing? Make sure that your child enjoys school by keeping him healthy and happy. Give him Aquabest Structured Water perfected by nature, delivered by technology.                                                                                                                   - by Almira Antiporda (Photo courtesy of Aquabest.) The Aquabest-Oxyplus-Laundrybest combination demonstrates the company's eco-friendly philosophy in action. Aquabest Intro      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9      10      11      12      13