TOASTING TO HEALTH (From top right, clockwise) Marcelo (right) poses with (from left) Sante International Chief Finance Officer Eric Maranan and actor Matteo Guidicelli at the latter’s contractsigning event as the firm’s brand ambassador in February; Sante distributors and board directors during a familiarization trip to New Zealand; and Marcelo (center) with Peter Hope (second from right), managing director of Sante New Zealand Ltd., and Sante executives. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Before conceiving Sante International, however, Marcelo and his partners struggled to find the right business model. They first sold educational and financial packages under Prudential Life, but quickly realized they needed to sell more consumable products to earn. Then they moved to selling food supplements and green and red iced teas. This eventually failed because of an erroneous compensation plan. “We paid more than we earned,” Marcelo says. They realized the need to find a unique product to promote and attract the market.