Gregory Banzon walks his talk
We don’t know how many years we have in this world so what I try to do is really explore where I can take my energy. Balance your life with things like art, sports and still be able to be with friends to share those moments and ultimately to have memories
The moment the screen is on and you see the charming man on the other side of your virtual wall, you immediately know the lightness that will be enjoyed in this imminent conversation. That is not to say that an afternoon chat with Gregory Banzon, COO and EVP of Century Pacific Foods Inc., is all just about tackling the surface.
It’s just that the man behind the biggest food company in the country is game about opening up and sharing what makes him tick as a business maverick and dedicated athlete. And that down-to-earth mindset is palpable in the way he describes himself on his Instagram page: “Global citizen. Tireless corporate executive. Taipan in the making. Ironman triathlete. Father. Brother. A good son. Captured heart.”
Taking time from his busy corporate schedule, Banzon sat with the Daily Tribune team as guest of its FB Live show, Pairfect. Here, in less than an hour, the executive was gracious enough to answer a range of topics including waking up at 4 a.m. to train, mounting the country’s biggest model search in the middle of a pandemic, his company’s new-normal and what’s on his bucket list when it’s safer to go out.
Here’s an excerpt from that interview:
Daily Tribune (DT): How have you been during the pandemic?
Gregory Banzon (GB): I have been very busy. We were anticipating that there was going to be some sort of a lockdown. We were actually doing drills and we were trying to anticipate what the lockdown is going to entail. We have been practicing work from home and how to keep the plants running but ironically, 16 March was supposed to be the first day of our supposed dry run. It was also the first day of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Our forecast happened but we are a major market shareholder especially for packaged foods for the Philippines and its market abroad. We have about 60 percent of the market’s share, I guess, if you put all of the Century brands together. So we needed to keep our plants running to contribute to the country’s food security. If 60 to 65 percent of the supplies run out, there will be shortages. The biggest goal was to always keep the employees safe while keeping our productions line running and sustaining deliveries to the stores and consumers.
DT: One thing that you continued was the Century Tuna Superbods event that was launched earlier this year. Tell us about that and why did you decided to push through with it.
GB: We had Superbods for a long time already. This is actually the 12th year if I’m not mistaken. It’s a regular event that the consuming public or our target market looks forward to. It’s a model search wherein male and female individuals compete for the title of Century Tuna Superbod.
At first, we thought it would just be another one of those Superbod competitions. We already had a big one on our 10th year in 2018. So we thought we’d just pace out this one and do a standard Superbod. But the pandemic happened.
I recall, in the early days, we would only get a few, like 400, 500 aspirants. This time, the competition became so big that thousands aimed for it. We normally cut it down to a few like 32, 16 males and 16 females and then they get into the finals. They go through physical challenges and mental challenges all through the competition until the finals.
But then the lockdown happened. We thought about the relevance of the competition and that we needed to rethink it because we don’t want to be just talking about abs, chests and sexy bodies in the middle of a pandemic. And as people’s minds are on something else or in terms of health and safety. We said, let’s reformulate and make it our stand for people to stay strong. So, the theme was changed to “Stay Strong Pilipinas.”
DT: On the personal side, how are you and your family embracing the new normal? GB: My son who is in college
is back in class, but online. My other son who is working had been working from home. It is the new normal and we have to embrace it. Same with my daughter, from having a regular job in New York, she flew back here and is now mostly working online doing graphic design for clients. But then there also a lot of opportunities as people transition online. People are adjusting but there are still parts of the economy that need to be very physical like construction, transport and even retail. In my case, I have to be in the office a lot to help coordinate our activities both domestically and internationally.
DT: Are there things on your wishlist that you want to do when the pandemic is over? When it is safer to go out again?
GB: One of the tasks for Century Pacific, while we continue to dominant players in the Philippines, is to push our business internationally. There are things that we have to do as a global brands group. We have to travel and see customers abroad. We stayed in touch with our customers abroad through our digital platforms. But it’s still different when you talk to someone on the screen versus when you personally meet up with a business partner and customers. I guess it’s the business travel that I miss. It needs to kick in again and I’d like to be able to do that again.
The outdoor stuff, you can do that again now. I still run and bike outdoors. Swimming in a pool is still a challenge. Since I can’t swim in a public pool for training, I have a tiny pool at home for stationary swimming.
DT: You’re taking things well. Being able to balance your work with your personal life. What’s your advice for people out there who are still navigating their new normal?
GB: We don’t know how many years we have in this world so what I try to do is really explore where I can take my energy. Balance your life with things like art, sports and still be able to be with friends to share those moments and ultimately to have memories. And be cautiously optimistic. As I mentioned, we have 18,400 employees across six plants over 200 plus days that we have been able to keep safe because we thought about the situation and said we need to manage it ourselves. Let’s avoid being reckless but at the same time be optimistic. We have kept everyone safe so far so it can be done if you are very careful and deliberate about moving things forward, looking at the opportunities out there and pursuing them in an intelligent way.