XuliHeid Products, Truly Proud To Be Filipino!

The couple behind the success of one of the biggest selling cleaning products in the southern Philippines. (Darwin Wee)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 19 Sept) After a decade of pastry-making, Maria Teresita T. Almeda has decided to shift her business direction to producing environment-friendly detergent and home care products.

"In pastry business, you only get occasional orders from customers while in detergent and home care products, you are assured to have daily orders as it is a need for people nowadays," the 47 year-old Almeda told the Mindanao Examiner.

Almeda, a midwife by profession, took the advantage of becoming the first local manufacturer of detergent products and in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula. "There is really a huge market in this industry because people from different walks of life will definitely use detergent products either to wash their clothes, kitchen utensils or even for cleaning bathrooms.”

“Aside from that, big factories particularly those into food processing, also utilize huge quantities of cleaning products to disinfect its facilities," she emphasized.

Looking at the great potential of the detergent industry, Almeda together with husband, Francisco and her sister, pooled their resources and put up the XuliHeid Manufacturing Industry in 2005.

XuliHeid now produces different kinds of multipurpose industrial and household detergent products.

"To emphasize our partnership, the name of our company was derived from the combination of our daughter and my sister's daughter names -- Xuliene and Heide, respectively," she said.

The Almeda's detergent product comes in three variations -- powder, liquid and paste. With an initial capital investment of P1.5 million, Almeda was able to produce a wide array of detergent products such as fabric stain remover, laundry detergent powder (with high foam and low foam ingredients), fabric conditioner, car shampoo, dishwashing, fabric spray, and disinfectant liquid.

But what the Almedas take pride in is that 100 percent of their detergent products are manufactured from biodegradable surfactants, making them environment-friendly.

"Compared with other commercial detergent products, we don't use the hard alkyl benzenes which are hazardous to our health and environment. Our products are also free from highly toxic chemicals -- hard or branched dodecyl benzene sulfonates, salts and chalk," she explained.

Early this year, Almeda's company was able to get a quality control certification from the Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry, an independent scientific institute that conducts severa lchemical analyses of different kinds of products, and provides third party certification, aside from government's certifying agencies.

"We only resort to ingredients that are biodegradable. Our productdoes not leave any harmful residue and does not irritate the skin," she said.

Although, Almeda is not a chemist, she said she was able to learn all the basic technical knowledge on the formulation of detergent productsthrough self-study and various seminar workshops in the country. "Ihad to go to Manila just to learn all the techniques. Detergent making is a serious occupation requiring some understanding of chemistry," she said.

She said among their primary product ingredients are soda and sodium sulfite, which are being used in the textile industry as a bleaching, de-sulfurizing and as a de-chlorinating agent. Aside from that, she also uses a little amount of sodium lauryl ether sulfate, which is a premium agent in cleansers and shampoos.

Almeda sourced out 90% of her raw materials in Luzon. "I order an average of two tons of soda and sodium sulfite, and two drums of sodium lauryl ether sulfate per month," she said.

Their products, Almeda said, also contain four kinds of scents, which include Citrus and Sampaguita oils. Almeda said their detergent products pass at least four stages before these come out from the factory.

"Just like in baking cakes, what I do right now is to mix all the ingredients in proportionate and accurate amounts," she said.

Almeda said aside the prices of their products are relatively cheaper than commercial detergent products sold in the market. "Our detergent powder is three times cheaper and the same is true with our liquid based products," she said.

She said prices of their products range from P55 to P100 per kilo for powder detergent and between P75 to P120 for a liter of liquid-based products.

Currently, the XuliHeid Manufacturing Industry is capable of producing as much as 2,500 kilos of detergent powder a day and 630 liters of liquid detergent products, which include car shampoo and fabric conditioner.

Four tuna canneries in Zamboanga City are now using detergent powder manufactured by XuliHeid.

About 80 percent of their powder detergent production goes to the local tuna canneries. "Each cannery orders around 2,000 kilos of detergent powder a month," Almeda's husband said.

They also fill the sanitization demands of several hotels, restaurants, laundry and carwash shops in the city, aside from maintaining its four refilling stations located in the different parts in Zamboanga Peninsula.

The Department of Trade and Industry is also helping XuliHeid design their product labels.

Almeda said she was also able to get orders from the Colgate-PalmolivePhilippines, the maker of Ajax All Purpose Detergent. She said their products' shelf life can last up to one year from its manufacturing date.

In a span of one year, XuliHeid still maintains a strong market in the cities of Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and the provinces of Basilan, Sulu Archipelago, and other areas in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Aside from the domestic market, the Almedas were also able to penetrate the foreign market and now imports their products to Saipan and New Zealand. In August, XuliHeid signed an agreement with the Asia Brewery in Cagayan de Oro City for the delivery of at least 5 tons of detergent powder each month.

In addition, Almeda said she is also negotiating with one of the largest canned tuna processor in General Santos City for 10 tons of detergent power every month.

Almeda said they are also planning to expand their products that will include toothpaste, mouthwash, and body soap with organic fruit and flower extracts.