Kea International owner Eloisa Bautista-Flores’ journey with
Conrad Manila started by
consistently doing good
work.
Conrad Manila
is one of the hotels under
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.
Backed by years
of experience in supplying
handicrafts in the hotel
industry, Bautista-Flores
understood what needed
to be done to supply products to SM Hotels. It is to
showcase the excellence
of their handicrafts.
She shared, “Being one of SM’s suppliers
for many years, we were
referred by buyers of baskets to Conrad Manila.
From there, we presented
our production capacity.” It
was a decision that paved
the way for more success
not only for Kea International but for the handicraft
communities in the countryside.
Established in
2010, Kea creates handmade products including
baskets, storages, gift
boxes, furniture, woodcrafts, and other home accessories.
“I supply Conrad
Manila with leather-made
guest amenities. This includes holders of notepads, TV remotes, and
directories. These are being produced in our main
warehouse in Batangas.
We have in-house production that creates 100%
handmade accessories.
Everything is hand-sewn,
hand-wrapped by skilled
box makers in our province,” Bautista-Flores further shared.
Going beyond guest amenities, Kea also supplies
Conrad Manila’s kitchen
with pantry trays and wood
boards. “For woodcraft like
boards and trays, we have
satellite factories in Tarlac where these are being
produced,” she shared.
Her products’
presence at Conrad Manila also led to better and
brighter things for her
company: “While I was
supplying Conrad Manila,
I met one of the executives and he asked me to
approach SM Store. We
presented our Buri Hamper Set. This was the first
item we sold to SM Store.”
Bautista-Flores
further shared that from
usually selling 100 sets,
it grew to about 1,000 a
year. In her journey with
SM, she shared that there
were a lot of learnings
along the way.
“One thing I admire about SM is that they
truly treasure the partnership, and I am proud to
be one of their suppliers.
They are with me every
step of the way. I am just
amazed at how systematic their operations are
attending to thousands
of suppliers. Being in the
handicraft industry where
low-income workers are
thousands, orders from
SM have brought good
livelihood to the countryside,” she said.
For Bautista-Flores, the growth of
her company is also the
growth of the people who
work with her.
Just this year,
Conrad Manila was named
a verified luxury hotel by
Forbes Travel Guide 2023
Star Awards, the world-renowned authority on excellence in hospitality, and
amid the elegance at Conrad Manila are beautifully
made handicrafts created
by workers who take pride
in what they do
