Leather Business, A Tough Trade!

Reynaldo Chua, of ZamBaSul Mercantile, shows Thursday 21 Sept 2006 some of his leather products. (Darwin Wee)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 21 Sept) For Reynaldo E. Chua, to venture in the tannery and leather business one must have tons of courage, creativity and passion for it to thrive.

"In the tannery and leather business, you have to consider yourself tough for any eventualities. It's not only the amount of capital you're putting into the business that counts, you must have the heart, a dose of creativity and the accurate direction that will measure one's success in this type of business," Mr. Chua told Mindanao Examiner from his residence in the village of Sta. Maria, where the bulk of his products is processed.

The 61-year entrepreneur has been in the tannery and leather industry for more than two decades now. According to him, the success of his company -- ZamBaSul Mercantile -- is largely on varying situations in the country. From the time the ZamBaSul Mercantile was put up in 1982, the economic and political situations have become the barometer of its success.

"These included the EDSA revolution in 1986, which dampened the interest of foreign countries in buying his products because of the unstable political situation at that time. However, with my determination and persistent mindset, I was able to recover the market we once lost. It's not easy to lose grip of your foreign market. Since the establishment of my company, at least 80 percent of my products goes to foreign customers," he emphasized.

Mr. Chua admitted that he started without any strong foundation and background in tannery and leather business.

"I took the risk in diverting my business -- from consumer trading into manufacturing of leather products. And what basically inspired me to venture into this business was the rich resources of animal and fish skins we have here in Mindanao," he said.

Among the factors which helped his business stay afloat, particularly during hard times, are the quality of his products and the type of raw materials he is using, which is not common in the tannery and leather business.

Compared with other tannery and leather companies in the country, ZamBaSul Mercantile has been focusing in producing several kinds of footwear, bags and wallets made from animal skins -- fresh water and sea snakes, fishes, toads and birds, including ostrich.

"I took the advantage of the rich resources here in the South. When I was still in the trading business, I used to travel around Western Mindanao and I saw the abundance of sea and fresh water snakes that majority of local fishermen just ignored or thrown away every time these serpents got caught in their nets," he said.

With an initial capital investment of less than P20, 000 and with the help of a close friend, Mr. Chua established a buying station in Zamboanga City and made it on top of the local leather market as one of the primary suppliers of sea and fresh water snakes skin for the country's shoe capital in Marikina City in the 1980's.

He said he buys his supplies of snake and animal skins from different sources. He said he bought his equipment in Manila and started learning how to operate them in Zamboanga through a Belgian friend who was into tannery business.

"Honestly, I really didn't know how to operate those machines, but fortunately I was able to meet a retired Belgian national in Manila who is also into tannery business and he taught me the entire process of tanning until I mastered the skills," he said.

Aside from Zamboanga City, Mr. Chua also put up a production site in 1984 in Parañaque City for the purpose of getting foreign buyers while maintaining buying stations back home.

"From then on, I started to make my own bags, portfolios, organizers and wrist pouches, including men's and ladies wallets and purses, credit cards holders, key holders, belts and various small fashion accessories," he said.

Mr. Chua eventually expanded his market both domestically and abroad, to include Japan, Canada, America, and South Korea. His toads and fishes' products are the first in the Philippines, which was inspired by his Australian friend. He buys his raw materials in Zamboanga Peninsula and Cagayan de Oro City.

Mr. Chua said all his skin products passes on at least 17 stages before they are ready for delivery.

In a span of four years, Mr. Chua was able to maintain his markets in different souvenirs shops in the country and imports also to Australia and South Korea.

With the help of his son Roy, ZamBaSul Mercantile now produces different designs for bracelets and wallets and bags.

Currently, Mr. Chua's company is now producing an average of 500 leather bags, and thousands of wallets, belts, key chains, coin purses among others and also accepts made-to-order leather products. Prices of skin products are also competitive, he said, from as low as P14 to several thousands.