CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Kapampangans can now experience #GuiltlessGoodness with the opening of Koomi at SM City Pampanga.
Since its first Metro Manila opening in November 2019, Koomi opened five more stores in prime city locations within three months. The brand just opened more by the end of 2020 and 2021 – including branches at SM City Clark and the just-opened SM City Pampanga store.
Koomi Natural Drinking Yogurt, an Australian brand, is one of the first brands to introduce purple rice yogurt in the market – a chewy, creamy, and healthy yogurt drink that has a growing following, especially in Asia and Australia.
Originating from Sydney back in March 2019, Koomi became popular among the Asian and Australian market for its healthy and tasty yogurt drinks. This overwhelming response resulted in opening four more branches in Australia, which eventually lead to international outlets across Southeast Asia like Thailand and Malaysia.
This Koomi craze allowed the brand to open stores in Manila. It happened when John Michael “Mike” Hilton and Ahtisa Manalo were exploring downtown Sydney during their trip in 2019. The long queue of people waiting to get their hands on this famous purple-rice yogurt drink piqued their curiosity.
That crazy line was worth it, because the moment Mike took his first sip, he was certain that it was a taste experience that he needed to bring back home — and so he did.
Three days after, they came back to the store, discussed business with the owner, and locked the deal. That’s how the #GuiltlessGoodness from the Land Down Under came to the Philippines!
Koomi Philippines is led by passionate individuals who aim to share the #GuiltlessGoodness experience to Filipinos. Mike is a Filipino-Australian businessman and an expert in the food and beverage industry. His business partner is beauty queen Ahtisa Manalo, leading the finance and budget management of the brand. She is also an accounting degree holder. Andrew Neri joined the team to spearhead the marketing efforts of Koomi Philippines with his expertise in business communications. His background includes successful integrated campaigns for various local brands. The three worked together to ensure Filipinos can enjoy quality products and services at any Koomi store in the country.
Koomi prides itself on its Australian and Asian fusion while still appealing to the Filipino palette through flavors like Ube, Avocado, and Mango Graham. Koomi also launched limited edition drinks like Mais Con Yelo and Halo-Halo, which fared well with the local market. Mike and the team sees the importance of supporting farmers and their homegrown produce thus its premium ingredients are sourced from Batangas, Laguna, Baguio, and Davao.
Although COVID-19 presents its challenges, Koomi Philippines keeps a forward attitude in finding opportunities to keep the business afloat. Currently, they have over 100 employees. The team plans to open more branches to give jobs to everyone.
Koomi makes it possible for Filipinos to satisfy their cravings without guilt because every cup is made healthy with natural drinking yogurt and fresh fruits. Recently, they launched a campaign that highlights its drinks’ health benefits, now that being healthy is more important than ever.
With this in mind, Koomi is committed to caring for the well-being of its employees and customers. It also plays a role in supporting local health officials and community leaders during these tough times.
“Our goal is to let Filipinos experience the #GuiltlessGoodness of Koomi one cup at a time. To do that, we must embrace change and continue moving forward,” Mike says. Koomi Philippines pursued innovative ways to ensure that they still deliver the promise of #GuiltlessGoodness to their Koomikadas even from a safe distance.
