Bob Murray: A businessman's journey to empowerment in Bicol

The Manila Times

Bob Murray: A businessman's journey to empowerment in Bicol  Robert 'Bob' Murray, a businessman from Gympie, Queensland, is on a mission to make a lasting impact in the world. As he approached retirement in Hong Kong, Bob found himself reflecting on how he could channel his energy into a meaningful advocacy. A casual conversation with a friend led him to connect with his nanny from Bicol, a region in the Philippines. Bob traveled to Bicol and was confronted with the stark reality of poverty that permeated the lives of its residents. He felt a deep-seated urge to take action and asked himself about what he could do to help. He began by building homes for those in need and then sponsoring children’s education. His passion for making a difference culminated in the establishment of the Muravah Foundation, which has garnered substantial support through donations from generous Australians. However, as Bob continued his advocacy work, he realized that sustainable change required more than immediate assistance; it necessitated empowerment. Thus, he explored innovative solutions that could provide long-term benefits. It was here that he discovered the potential of cacao farming in Bicol and recognizing an opportunity to uplift local farmers, founded Mayo Go Chocolates, which provided farmers with fair wages and sustainable practices. Today, Mayo Go Chocolates boasts 13 unique varieties, and its products are sought after by retailers. Bob's vision is clear: this burgeoning demand calls for empowering farmers, providing quality products, and creating a sustainable business model.  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Subscribe to Business Franchise Guru: https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessFranchiseGuru   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Sign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newsletters  Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #philippines #entrepreneur

Transcript

00:00The Business Mentor Talks is vlogged by no other, Armando Butz Bartolome, in cooperation

00:13with the Manila Times.

00:15It aims to bring to life and recognize entrepreneurs who constantly strive to create a living for

00:21the community as well.

00:41Listen to the Business Mentor Talks with Butz Bartolome.

01:11Have you heard about a foreigner who comes from Gympie, Queensland by the way, and how

01:31he started a foundation with an aim of ending poverty, not through donation, but making

01:39them work.

01:42And the man behind this getting popular chocolate, the dark chocolate, which is now almost everywhere.

01:50I've searched the Amazon and it's available.

01:54So without further ado, let me call, introduce to you Bob Miray and Lori Bañas.

02:01Bob and Lori, good morning to you.

02:04Good morning.

02:05Good morning.

02:06Good morning.

02:07So anyway, Bob, it's really nice for you to really start a foundation here in the Philippines

02:15and especially in Mayon, right?

02:18So how did you ever think about, you know, settling in the Philippines and, you know,

02:26pinpointing in the land of the perfect volcano?

02:30What made you decide?

02:31Right.

02:32Yeah.

02:34Well, that's the long story there.

02:35So I'll cut it short as much as possible.

02:38In 2008, I wasn't ready for retirement.

02:42We'd just closed down some businesses in China.

02:45And I'd been working with a charity in China, something to do on the side, enjoyed the work

02:53and said to a mate in Hong Kong, I'd like to start my own charity.

02:57He said, come and meet my Yaya, which is his maid.

03:00And you should hear her story.

03:02And it turned out she was Filipino.

03:04I heard her story and I, from the distance from Hong Kong, I immediately sponsored some

03:09of her nieces and nephews to get them out of there into good schools and with a promise

03:15to take them through college, which they've all done.

03:18They've all gone through college and they've got degrees and they're out working in the

03:21workforce now because that's 15 years ago.

03:24Or anyway, 16 years ago.

03:27And that's how it started.

03:29It started that way.

03:31And that's how it came to be, the Philippines and not Thailand or Indonesia or somewhere.

03:35And I came down here in 2009, got to meet the family.

03:41That family came from Albay and Bicol and in this region.

03:49And when they advised me, invited me out here for fiesta, I was looking around at all the

03:54farmland not being used.

03:56And I thought, well, what's going on here?

03:59This is this lack of capital and just a lot of poverty all around.

04:04So I decided I should concentrate here to do something for the families as well.

04:11The sponsorship of the kids through college is a very, I mean, the promise was we take

04:17people out of poverty permanently.

04:20Taking kids through college definitely does that if you take more than one child per family.

04:25And, you know, the six kids, you need to get at least three or four with degrees before

04:30that family can come out of poverty.

04:32So we're very aware of that.

04:34And we continue to try to always make sure that a lot of the kids are going through, if

04:39not all of them, going through college.

04:41So that continues.

04:43But then looking around the farm, that's another deal to get farming communities out

04:49of poverty because the farms are so small.

04:52But we work with the rice farmers with loans for many years, so they had inputs for

05:01fertiliser and they had money for wages and things like that.

05:04So they increased their harvest, their income.

05:09At the same time, we rebuilt the school here.

05:13One half of the roof was missing from a typhoon 12 months earlier.

05:17So we put a roof on it.

05:19We built a kindergarten.

05:20We put in a health centre because the ladies were having babies on the road going to

05:24town. So it's a clinic for babies.

05:28And we did all that sort of thing for many years.

05:32But it wasn't really taking people out of poverty.

05:36It was easiest for poverty pain.

05:39Yeah. So it was 2016 or 17 when we were told about the potential of the cacao

05:49industry. Now, I don't know if you know, but, you know, the big old region back in the

05:531800s was a major producer on the world market of cacao and trees growing around me.

06:01I'd seen these trees and not been inquisitive enough.

06:04I didn't know what these fruit were hanging off trees.

06:06I just thought they were pretty odd looking trees, you know, wild cacao trees.

06:11So it wasn't hard to realise that cacao would grow here.

06:16We were told by the Department of Agriculture that you could plant five cacao trees per

06:21coconut tree. Now, the coconut growers have got like an acre of land with some coconut

06:26trees. That's not going to support a family.

06:29And these cacao trees could increase their income by four times, they told us, which

06:35just turned out to be true.

06:37And so we thought, well, that's good.

06:40That's a solution.

06:41And that's really how we got into the business.

06:44And so we started propagating seedlings from these wild trees and really they're

06:51technically an heirloom tree because they've been there for hundreds of years.

06:55The flavour in these beans is unique to this region.

06:59Differences are there, there's a difference anywhere.

07:01We've had these tasted and tested overseas and the feedback is very, very positive.

07:08So we've got a great flavour in the cacao, getting ahead of ourselves a bit there.

07:12Let's go back to the farmers.

07:13We propagated and distributed 35,000 seedlings at this stage and more than half of

07:22them are now fruiting.

07:24So the big shock was when we first distributed the seedlings, oh yeah, we'll buy all

07:31your pots.

07:32And they seemed to fruit a bit quicker than we thought.

07:37We suddenly had to learn how to make chocolate.

07:39So that was a very fast learning curve.

07:43Phil Meck was very helpful with that.

07:46At the DA, there was a lot of departments that got in to help this whole idea.

07:53And we developed since then.

07:57But now we have quite a big processing facility.

08:01We've got 20 staff.

08:03So we're working with the farmers, there's more than 500 farmers.

08:07They're a challenge in the sense that cacao, coconut growers, the difference between

08:15cacao and coconut is chalk and cheese.

08:17I mean, coconut, you get a coconut, you put it in the ground, it'll grow a coconut

08:21tree. Cacao, totally different deal.

08:24You plant the seedling, it's got to be watered, it's got to be treated like a baby

08:29most of its life.

08:30So training the farmers is an ongoing challenge, but they're good, they're seeing

08:35the result, their labour, there's more and more interest.

08:39So we can only see that getting better and better.

08:42And yeah, it sort of rattled on pretty quickly there.

08:47But I mean, that's the story in a nutshell.

08:49Yeah. So how did you manage to convince the family, you know, that instead of dole

08:55out, you still have to work and really, you know, get over the poverty

09:02situation? Like you're offering them to work and get interested in the cacao.

09:09How did you manage to convince them?

09:12Because some of them, they may be probably, you know, for years are always like that,

09:18you know, always trying to expect donation, right?

09:22But here you're trying to make them work in order to get over the poverty situation.

09:30How did you manage that?

09:32Well, really, they had no choice in the sense that if you're getting free seedlings

09:36and we're there to help plant them and all this sort of thing, and then we monitor

09:41them to make sure they're taking care of the tree, which we haven't had enough.

09:46You mentioned before without donations, we do get donations regularly from Australia.

09:50We have a lot of Australian businesses send us a lot of money every month because we

09:53couldn't do it without capital.

09:55You can't. I mean, we're establishing a cacao industry here and you can't do it

10:00without a lot of capital.

10:01And that's ongoing coming through.

10:04But we're selling a lot of chocolate now, too, which is helping that growth.

10:08But as you know, in any business, as it grows, you need more capital again.

10:13And it's the ongoing cycle, isn't it?

10:18And also, we still look at our kids and doing other things.

10:22So it wasn't hard for the farmers to come along because it was like, well, why not?

10:29But then now it's a matter of encouraging them to take care of their trees.

10:35And that is really a probably

10:39it's probably our biggest, there's two big challenges.

10:41One is that the other one is getting enough retail exposure.

10:45But that's coming along quite nicely, though.

10:49I mean, Duty Free took us on 12 months ago and they've done a fantastic job

10:54with our chocolate.

10:56And because people see it there, that's helped our exposure.

10:59And so that's when Robinson's contacted us recently.

11:03And we're moving into their stores in Bickle before Christmas.

11:07So, yeah, that's going fine.

11:10Really, it's just a normal business challenges, to be honest.

11:14I mean, it's, you know.

11:16Laurie, tell us, how did you manage to join?

11:20I mean, tell us, what made you join Morava Foundation?

11:24Tell us something about your background, Laurie.

11:27Yeah, Bob helped me, went to college in 2010.

11:33Then I graduated in 2015.

11:36Then Bob helped me also.

11:40He's because it's a long story, but I decided to contact Bob

11:47about finding a job.

11:49So he said that, why not join us, our team?

11:52So since then, I decided to work with the foundation

11:59and also in return of what the foundation did to me.

12:05Until now, I was working with the foundation and I love, I love it.

12:09I started doing, helping the kids also.

12:14When I started in 2015, I handled all the scholars

12:18and also the sponsored families.

12:20And now, Bob and I...

12:22Now she's the operations manager.

12:24She's trying to kick me out of the job here.

12:27No, I'm learning from the expert.

12:30Oh, every day, it's a learning process.

12:34We've got a team of 20 here now.

12:36There's, we have a chartered accountant, Bell,

12:40and Avalon and Rose both went through agricultural college

12:4530 years ago.

12:47The rest of the team, but they're all local people.

12:51And a lot of the team really hardly ever went to school.

12:54But they're learning and they're great, they're hard working.

12:58So in a sense, even our infrastructure is a charity, it's charity work.

13:04We're giving people like single mums, you know, desperate places.

13:09And we'd have five, I think, single mums working now.

13:12Yeah, it's a big deal.

13:16So how big is the network now of your dark chocolates?

13:20You seem to be...

13:22Where are your distribution, aside from the Robinson's?

13:26Yeah, well, it's built mainly

13:29a lot of small stores, family stores.

13:31There's Duty Free, as I mentioned,

13:35all about baking.

13:36I've got a chain of stores in Manila.

13:38There's some several...

13:40BTI Go Local.

13:41BTI Go Local stores are really great supporters.

13:46It's not enough yet.

13:50But there's more coming.

13:51I mean, we're getting known now.

13:54Once people hear our story and all the profit goes back in the communities.

13:58I mean, I'm a volunteer, obviously.

14:00And perhaps they taste the chocolate.

14:04It's the easiest sale I've ever done in my life.

14:07OK, so we were talking about, Bob, about the distribution.

14:13How big now has the demand started to grow for your chocolates?

14:20It's starting to grow a lot.

14:23It's very encouraging.

14:26We're getting a lot of great feedback from the consumers as well.

14:31And I mean, just to get a phone call from Robinson's,

14:35they've been watching us apparently for some years to say, OK,

14:39you better come and talk to us.

14:40It was very heartening.

14:43And we expect to do a lot more retail next year.

14:47We certainly have the stocks.

14:49We've got probably eight tonne of beans in stock at the moment.

14:52That makes about six and a half tonne of chocolate.

14:56And the season, it's an off season right now, but we'll be

15:00we will produce probably 12 to 15 tonne of beans in the next 12 months.

15:06So we've got plenty of, we're going to supply

15:10a lot of chocolate into the market.

15:12So we're not afraid of going to the big retailers

15:16and talking business with them.

15:18And chocolate isn't the cheapest in the market.

15:21It's a it's a quality retail, quality chocolate.

15:25These are the brand names.

15:28Can you focus on them again?

15:30That's May and Gold.

15:32May and Gold.

15:33Yeah, yeah.

15:35And that's two of our better selling chocolates, the turmeric and the chilli.

15:38But they all sell very well.

15:40But those two have been good.

15:42And we've focused on the health market.

15:44The first chocolate we brought out was 100% chocolate.

15:47100% cacao, no additives, no chemicals, no butter taken out.

15:53And that is still one of our top, top sellers, the supper, these two.

15:58As you know, a lot of diabetes, a lot of sugar problems in the market

16:02in the population.

16:04So they're very, very popular.

16:06That chocolate is very, very popular for that market.

16:09For chamborado, for hot chocolate, for baking, etc.

16:13You can add other other sweetness.

16:16But we use organic coconut sugar, which is half the glucose of cane sugar.

16:22So all the way, we're all like this one here, the Pilly Nut

16:26chocolate, Pilly Nut Crust.

16:28That's 40% Pilly Nut.

16:30Now, the Pilly Nut, I don't know if you know, it's got all the same properties,

16:33if not better than the macadamia, which is known as the king of nuts.

16:37So 40% of that chocolate is Pilly Nut.

16:41The other is 40% pure cacao.

16:43Nothing. No, we don't do anything to it.

16:46Just in hand, it's treated in a way to bring out the best flavour.

16:50And there's 20% organic coconut sugar.

16:52So the actual glucose content of that chocolate is very low

16:57compared to the other chocolates in the market.

16:59And the chilli chocolate, there's six other herbs there other than chilli.

17:05And that took us 12 months to develop because chillies are pretty,

17:09can be a bit harsh, right?

17:11But it's the other herbs that help round off the flavour and enhance the flavour.

17:17And you can still get all that good chocolate taste coming through.

17:21So when we got a turmeric out there, it sounds terrible.

17:25You know what I mean?

17:26There's a lot there now.

17:30How many varieties do you have now, Bob, Lori, for the Iron Go?

17:35We have 13 varieties.

17:37How many?

17:3913. 13 varieties.

17:42And your chilli, what do you call that?

17:45The chilli Bayon Go, the chilli, the 7-in-1, something like that.

17:49Yeah, the 7-in-1.

17:52Why 7-in-1, Bob?

17:55It's got all these other herbs in it.

17:57And I can't leave them from here.

17:59Lori, Lori keen.

18:01Yeah, we have, of course, the ingredients is cacao, organic coconut sugar,

18:06chilli, ginger, organic moringa, turmeric,

18:09mangosteen, cinnamon, coconut milk powder, tarragon, and sea salt.

18:15Wow. A lot of good herbs there.

18:18Yeah. Who's doing all the research for Bayon Go?

18:21Who's doing that?

18:23It's a gumbo.

18:24The one and only, Mr. Moray.

18:27Oh, I see.

18:28But I didn't put together the final recipe.

18:31But we actually had some on-job training kids here, six of them from Naga.

18:35And they ended up finalising that flavour, which was great.

18:40They were here for six weeks. They stayed for eight weeks.

18:42They didn't want to go home.

18:44And they also finalised the turmeric, which is now in the market.

18:48That's selling a whole lot better than we thought it would.

18:52There's another three or four happening at the moment.

18:56We're playing with the mango coming out shortly and a few others.

19:01Yeah. So we'll continue to broaden the range as long as it's healthy,

19:06as long as it tastes great.

19:08And we're using Filipino produce.

19:13Yeah. So how far is the distribution now, aside from the Philippines?

19:17Are you doing it overseas?

19:19We've got inquiries from Hawaii and also from Australia.

19:26And we will get really mobilised on those inquiries next year,

19:32in the first quarter of next year.

19:36But, you know, there's a long way to go in the local market yet.

19:40So we want to really concentrate on that first.

19:44And then we'll move into the other markets.

19:48Yeah.

19:51Are you only focusing only on Bicol

19:54or are you looking at the different markets in the Philippines?

19:58No, no, no. The whole of the Philippines.

20:01Yeah.

20:02So eventually, Morava would like to spread out in different markets.

20:07Oh, you mean as a foundation?

20:09No, I think we're trying to create here in Bicol.

20:12Yeah. Yeah. There's plenty to do here.

20:16The thing is, we're with 500 farmers now working with.

20:22Well, that could be 5,000.

20:24I mean, there's a lot of coconut growers around the place.

20:26Yeah. And they don't all have the land, the soil that's good for cacao.

20:32But gee, a lot of them do.

20:34We're talking to a cooperative in Saucagon, which is

20:39probably about an hour away, I guess,

20:43just across the border of Saucagon, and they're going to supply

20:47if the next harvest is going to come our way.

20:49Because when they were promised, they were given all these cacao seedlings,

20:53they were promised, we'll make you a lot of money, blah, blah.

20:55But no one's buying their pods.

20:58And we're finding that a lot around the place

21:00because no one's set up to do the processing.

21:03I mean, there's not a lot of money in the cacao beans

21:07because the setup cost, the process to ferment, dry the beans is quite high.

21:15And if you look at the sums on it, if you're going to give the farmer

21:18a decent price, and we pay well above market rate,

21:22what's the use of introducing farmers to cacao

21:25and then paying them a pittance for their produce

21:27and they don't come out of poverty?

21:29That wasn't going to happen.

21:30So we pay them well above market rate.

21:33And, you know, if you weren't making chocolate, you wouldn't do the business.

21:39So there's a bit of a conundrum there as far as growing this industry.

21:44It's really got to be grown through chocolate manufacturing.

21:48Laurie, tell us the effects right now.

21:53How do you see now the effects of what you're doing,

21:58what Bob and Mayong Go, what is now the effect

22:02that you now see among the 500 families?

22:07Have they improved their livelihood?

22:10Have they started to spread advocacy?

22:13Yeah, when we started, like what Bob said,

22:17it's a big challenge to us to change the mindset of the farmer.

22:22But through the years that we've been doing it, we employ,

22:29it's not technician, we call it, like a farm technician from Morava Foundation

22:37to help the farmers to do the pruning, to do, you know,

22:41pruning, to do the proper care of the cacao.

22:45Now the farmer started engaging into that practices.

22:53So gradually there's a change.

22:57Before they, like what Bob said, they think that the cacao is like coconut.

23:02Now they started caring.

23:05It's like a baby.

23:07From baby to when they grow up, you have to take care of it.

23:12That's the sample we're giving to the farmers.

23:14So now they're doing it.

23:16And they're seeing now the big change of the profit

23:21that they're getting out of cacao,

23:24especially that sometimes coconut, you don't get enough profit out of that.

23:30So from the cacao, it's their income also, like.

23:39It's sort of return to hope.

23:40Yes. Yeah.

23:42Very desperately poor.

23:43And they've got some hope going forward.

23:47I mean, they've been very suspicious of anyone wanting to help them.

23:50I mean, they've been let down so much by so many.

23:54And so it took a long time to win over their confidence in us.

23:59Yeah. To stay at a distance.

24:01That's the big thing.

24:02I mean, this is another 20 year thing.

24:04It's a generational change that we're bringing here.

24:08And the outcome needs to be that they're making enough money

24:14that their children, one of their kids at least, will come along

24:17and take over the farm later.

24:19Because right now, why would any kid go back to their little coconut farm?

24:23I mean, honestly, it's not how you'd want to live.

24:27So there's a good benefit there.

24:30But we're on benefits too.

24:32Also, biodiversity is a big buzzword.

24:35And that's what we're doing.

24:37Planting cacao trees with the coconut.

24:39We're also planting bananas.

24:41Because the banana trees, when you chop them down,

24:43they breed the insects to do the pollination of the cacao trees.

24:47The flower of the cacao tree is very small.

24:49The bee cannot do it.

24:50Although I think that the native bee is small enough to get them down, isn't it?

24:54So we're doing that as well.

24:56So there's a whole environmental impact going on.

25:00Accidentally, but it's happening. Why?

25:04Right. Anyway, Bob, probably you can tell us

25:07how can those watching us

25:11be part of this Moorava Foundation

25:14or for people who want to sell your Mayang Go,

25:20what would your message be for them?

25:22I mean, a lot of people now would like to see their money

25:27going to some relevant advocacy like what you're doing right now.

25:33So what would your advice be?

25:36Well, depending on who we're talking to, it's the consumers.

25:39They can buy our chocolate.

25:43Sorry, the retailers.

25:46And also if people contact us, we can ship chocolate directly to them.

25:51We haven't promoted online sales, to be honest.

25:54But if they contact us, we'll refer them to a retailer near them

25:59or we'll work out a way to get chocolate to them.

26:01We've got Filipinos overseas who are now buying a lot of chocolate from us.

26:05And I don't know what they do, but the quantities they buy,

26:08I think they must be reselling.

26:10So we're happy to work with anyone to keep the sales going

26:15because the more chocolate we sell, the more farmers we can take out of poverty.

26:18So it's the retailers, if they contact us, we'll talk them straight up.

26:26And we've had some really nice retailers come online lately.

26:29So what would you add to that?

26:33Also, OK, from the Kapow Growers, we also have different projects.

26:39This sponsorship, kids sponsorship.

26:42And we do have this ongoing housing project.

26:45We have 67 beneficiaries for the housing project

26:52and we have seven sponsoring families.

26:58So, yeah, so what Laurie's saying is, yeah, besides the chocolate,

27:02there's sponsorships that have a bubble.

27:06So if you want to make a donation or regular small monthly donations

27:11to help a single mum's family, for instance,

27:14we manage all that and they can come and meet the family.

27:17Being Filipinos, they might want to visit, see what we do.

27:20And so, yeah.

27:24Yeah, right, right.

27:25So anyway, I really salute you, Bob, for taking your heart out of Australia

27:31and implanting your heart in Bicol and making waves.

27:36I mean, you're creating a legacy for the Bicolanos to really see.

27:41And I'm sure you're the adopted Bicolano now, Laurie, right?

27:46Bob is an adopted Bicolano, OK?

27:50And because, you know,

27:53yeah, when somebody makes a when somebody creates a change in the community

27:58and especially for the good of the community, legacy starts to build up.

28:03It's not for the popularity of Bob, but what Bob sees as a commitment.

28:08You know, you want you want something, the poverty to end all, you know,

28:13but it's not really it's not going to be an easy task, right?

28:17It's an uphill climb.

28:19And but despite it, you're just like keep on moving and moving and moving.

28:24You're like you're like you're like a soccer player.

28:28You keep on moving it.

28:29Three steps forward, one step back.

28:31Yeah. One step forward, one step down.

28:35Right, right.

28:36So, yeah.

28:39So, again, Bob, I'm really thankful.

28:42And really, I really pray that your Mayunggo will be one global brand.

28:49And, you know, I'll be talking to some people over the US.

28:53I'm sure they because I found this.

28:56I found your chocolates in Amazon, would you believe?

28:59Yeah, it's available in Amazon.

29:01They said, oh, wow, global.

29:03OK. And again, let's keep in touch.

29:08And probably in the next interview, Laurie, I'd like to interview

29:11the beneficiaries of families, probably farmers.

29:18Yeah, we can always set them.

29:20And, you know, what has Morava done for you in their livelihood?

29:25You know, to cease to believe.

29:26That's what we call it in Manila, you know, to cease to believe

29:30and for a foundation to be making waves. Right.

29:33I really appreciate that.

29:36Right, right.

29:37So, rest assured, our support.

29:40I'm sure our chamber, my fellow trustee,

29:44Avi de la Raya, was always talking about you.

29:47And hopefully when you are in Manila, we'd like to invite you to talk

29:51to our general membership meeting in Manila, probably next year,

29:57because you'll be busy with all the chocolates for Christmas.

29:59Yeah, we'll take you up on that.

30:02Absolutely.

30:04Yeah. So, Laurie, what is your advice to your fellow Bicolanas

30:12to support Mayong Go and Morava?

30:19I'll just say it in Tagalog.

30:21Yeah.

30:51And to our farmer members who continue to support the program

30:59and help their fellow farmers to learn the different ways of farming

31:11that we teach them,

31:13they are slowly adapting and teaching it to their fellow farmers.

31:21We are very happy with that.

31:24And to the small suppliers, we consider them to be our big suppliers,

31:33they are also adapting the way we sell the chocolates.

31:38Before, it was hard for us to understand that this is how we sell our chocolates.

31:45Now, they understand and see that by telling the story,

31:51what we do becomes our selling point.

31:56And they are adapting it.

31:57We are very happy with that.

32:00And following what we do,

32:03this is what we need to do.

32:05We need to focus more on supporting the community.

32:12They are slowly seeing that there are a lot of people buying,

32:17not just because they are getting a lot of benefits,

32:19but because they are getting a lot of help.

32:22We are really thankful.

32:23I can't mention it enough.

32:26All of that, I am truly thankful to all of you

32:31because you continue to support us.

32:33And we can see now that we are getting to know each other,

32:37not just locally, but nationwide.

32:42Right. So it's like it's coming out now, because of Lolo Bob, you know, Grandpa Bob.

32:51I fully support everything Laura said.

32:52I have no idea for a while.

32:55Bob, this is more than your birthplace, because you're really making waves.

33:01People over the grassroots are really looking forward.

33:05You really touch their hearts.

33:07You're able to touch their livelihood.

33:10Because anybody who helps in the livelihood, people really become so loyal.

33:15They really have that gratitude.

33:18To be honest, it's a win-win.

33:20I mean, I love what I'm doing.

33:21I mean, I'm not a retirement type person.

33:24So I think it's great.

33:27So it's good for everybody.

33:29Thank you for your kind words.

33:33Are you influencing your fellow retiree Australians?

33:37Are you influencing your fellow retirees?

33:39Are you influencing your fellow retirees?

33:41I think it's a win-win situation.

33:43I think it's a win-win situation.

33:45Are you influencing your fellow retiree Australians over to join you?

33:49No, they go on cruise ships and they run around drinking latte.

33:53No, no, no.

33:55It's not my scene.

33:57Okay.

33:59At least you're making relevance to your retirement, Bob, instead of just drinking rum.

34:07Exactly.

34:09Red Horse is not a bad substitute.

34:12Okay.

34:14So anyway, thank you very much.

34:16Thank you very much, Bob.

34:18Nice to meet you.

34:20Keep on the winning streak.

34:22Keep on the winning streak.

34:24Keep on the winning streak.

34:26Always on the go, right?

34:28Always on the go, right?

34:30Thank you very much.

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