Food For Thought: An Interview with Lee O'Brian by Joselito Sering, February 01, 2023 (Transcript)

“When you become this self-sustaining eco-friendly system contained within a protective environment, you begin to respond to all of life's threats in the Philippines.” –Lee O'Brian

This exclusive interview features dynamic media personality Lee O'Brian , who has been making waves with his roles in the #Philippines television and film industries, and also with the American Chamber of Commerce Business Podcast on Spotify and YouTube. Because of his captivating hosting style and insightful commentary, Lee has established himself as a prominent voice in the worlds of business and entrepreneurship.

In our interview, we talk about Lee's journey in starting the podcast, his passion for promoting businesses, and his commitment to promoting green technologies like vertical farming. As we sit in a swanky Starbucks in #Greenbelt, Lee shares his vision for the future of business and the critical role that green innovation will play in shaping the world we live in.

Joe: It wasn't too long ago that we met. We were introduced by an eclectic mutual friend of ours. How long had you known our mutual friend before we were introduced?

Lee: I met our [mutual friend] around February or March 2022.

Joe: How did you guys meet up?

Lee: He just started showing up to the #AmCham Kapihan coffee meetups on Fridays. Throughout the pandemic, we did Zoom meetups for Kapihan. Kapihan is a very dynamic meetup where we speak on various issues that are moving different industries, and it's an opportunity to meet some very interesting people. Eventually, we moved on to hybrid meetups and then eventually migrated to “in person” meetings.? In the case of he and I, I think it was online. I can't remember the exact day or moment we met, but over the course of the last year, what he and I connected on was our membership in the World Trade Center networking group as well as the American Chamber. The Metro Manila Chapter of the World Trade Center grants you access to all the big conferences. So last year, he and I went to IFEx, which is the International Food Expo. We were out networking with lots of people and enjoying ourselves at the different food stalls and the beer garden. So we had a good time there.

Joe: Would you say these conferences are tilted toward social programs?

Lee: Actually, they are very tilted towards industry, and capitalistic and economic development. The food industry conference IFEX, for example, brought together all kinds of food industry players: local food producers, exporters, and service providers from all across the food industry. So, sweets, staple foods, vegetables, alcohol producers—you name it—were there at the fair.

Joe: What was your interest?

Lee: I used to work in food manufacturing here in the Philippines for two years, from the end of 2019, up until last year, in December, 2021. So for two years I had food manufacturing with my ex partner. That's actually how I joined the World Trade Center. It was right before the pandemic. We had a big bazaar at the World Trade Center. During that event, I met all the World Trade Center people and decided to join the World Trade Center. Once the pandemic hit, all the events stopped, but I stayed in touch with the various chambers and the World Trade Center as well. We pivoted by doing a bunch of online events. To be honest, I love conferences because you can go, you can meet tons of really cool and interesting people, no matter the industry. And not going to lie, when it comes to the IFEX Food conference, my weak spot is? testing the food samples.

Joe: You mentioned capitalist, but would you say you are more of an industrialist? Or are you looking to invest?

Lee: I'm actually scouting for potential business opportunities and people to feature for media content. There is a need to create content to promote Philippine businesses and show to the world Philippine businesses. There were a lot of people there that could be featured and promoted both locally and abroad. And I am not referring necessarily to the big name brands. There were well known classic Filipino brands there, such as the hopia makers Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli, who are a Chinoy family from here in the Philippines who are very well known here in country. There were some promising newer companies in the product lines of ice cream, turmeric powder mixed drink, honey producers, jam producers and the list goes on. If you research, you will see there are so many little niches. I'm keen on talking about what I was exposed to when I did food manufacturing.

Joe: And was this part of the research for your blog? or can you tell me a little more about the blog/podcast you had??

Lee: I'm fixing to launch it soon, so this was all pre-work. This was a chance to meet people that I could eventually feature. So I ended up making 30, 40 contacts there that I could easily feature on the video and podcast.

Joe: Were you involved in the American Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of what you were already doing, or were you involved in the Chamber of Commerce prior to all of that?

Lee: I joined back in September of 2020 during the pandemic, because i was aiming to position our food brand for export. So when it came to the local chapter? and being that I am American? myself, it's a great option as a networking group that I can join. Now, with the dissolution of my food manufacturing company, the chamber has evolved over the last couple of years to become like a networking and social scene for me, which even includes producing the Chamber’s own podcast and hosting some of their live events.

Joe: Congratulations on the #podcast.

Lee: Thanks, man.

Joe: I did enjoy the topics that you guys were covering. I think it was in regards to the decompression of the traffic here in the city. Yes. It was like the main part of it. That was something that really interested me as well.

Lee: Yeah, I mean, the cool thing with the podcast, which we're blessed in, is, first of all, the guys I'm hosting with are AmCham members. So I share the episode hosting duties with company heads and country managers. So many are already movers and shakers in their own right. And then we have access to so many great guests. That was the case in the initial episodes. We had an undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, who brought more than 30 years experience in the national government (and a soon to be completed THIRD doctorate!) The podcast allows us direct access to high-level and accomplished people, such as the Under Secretary, and then that person comfortably comes in to sit and talk with us. The podcast provides great access and allows us to go deep into the government, corporations, and other industry movers.

Joe: How did the idea for doing your podcast with the American Chamber come about? Are you still doing anything in regards to the food industry?

Lee: When I originally joined, it was to promote my food brand. So for like a year I was in the chamber online events talking all about my food brand and my food manufacturing. And then, at the end of 2021, when the door closed on my food company, a new experience evolved for me with the chamber. In all of our meetups, we were always talking about the industry ups and downs, and what we were seeing coming out of the pandemic. In my new independent place, it dawned on me that AmCham didn't really have much content production going on. And an easy solution to that? would be podcasting. I had seen some business entities in the country and Independent hosts producing business minded podcasts. And the idea of a podcast for the chamber seemed like a perfect fit. When you talk about Chambers of Commerce, these are people who have direct inside the big time corporations and the big time business entities and the government. So they have a really unique perspective to talk about things. They're also the people making the big moves in the industries and so it's really nice to talk to them because they speak from direct experience. When it comes to my own podcast, I want to focus more on smaller SMB's that don't get that exposure, because I was exposed to a lot of them while managing my food company.

Joe: Are you talking about small to medium sized businesses? Are you talking about startups?

Lee: Yes, both of those. The bigger dogs in the industries already have their marketing going on and get some nice exposure. Whereas these smaller groups, you know, especially ones that are gaining popularity, they need to be heard about. And as a residual benefit, we can inspire other Filipinos to go start businesses.

Joe: These types of businesses, even the micro level businesses that you're talking about, are they in agriculture? or production? or are you moving into promoting new technologies?

Lee: All of the above. I know some agriculture groups, producers, and technology sector players. And additionally, I'm interested in promoting the organizations that are trying to help them. For example, during the pandemic, one of the big problems was sourcing agriculture from farmers because the supply chains were all cut off, right? With no delivery methods, the farmers had surpluses. So one of the cool things people did was, if they had access to farms, they went and collected a bunch of produce and then brought it down to the Metro Manila area. So one of the products I was sourcing for our production were farm direct strawberries. These are phenomenal. They're so good!! With these, we were making strawberry jam.

Joe: And these are organic?

Lee: Yeah, some #organic, and some #GMO. Back to my-point, I connected with a group of ladies, and their group was called Sadiwa. Their mission was to buy strawberries directly from the farmers at higher prices than bulk prices, so the farmers were actually making great incomes. It was? better than what they were normally earning. Then they resold the strawberries to end users such as myself at competitive prices. So it was a philanthropic movement that benefited everyone. That is what i will also feature in my podcast.

Joe: This is all very interesting to see.

Lee: And that's also how I met, Ralph from Urban Greens PH, who is launching hydroponics and vertical farming. I started ordering fresh basil, mint, and lettuce that he was growing in his indoor farming plants

Joe: And so can you tell me a little bit more about why hydroponic vertical farming?

Lee: Hydroponic Vertical farming is a game changer. You can solidify and consolidate all agricultural production indoors with protection and care. And, you know, the Philippines is a vulnerable country, especially when the typhoons pass over the country. Whatever's in its path is getting rocked. With this style of farming, that environmental threat gets partially neutralized. And it's a great way to utilize existing infrastructure that may not be in use. The execution chain goes like this: 1) Convert an unused warehouse that's in perfect shape, right? 2) Install vertical farming inside. 3) Create a now-protected, perfectly working system of agricultural production. 4) The system evolves to the point where it reuses water, reuses power, and reuses light. And then, if you want to start incorporating those non-electric water pumps, you will soon eliminate the need to use electricity or water supplies.? When you become this self-sustaining eco-friendly system contained within a protective environment, you begin to respond to all of life's threats in the Philippines. The biggest threats are food insecurity, natural disasters, and high electricity charges. This option is both eco-friendly and sustainable.?

Joe delves into the viability of vertical farming with Lee O'Brian, questioning whether it's only suitable for expanding new cities or if it could be applied to existing communities as well. Lee asserts that vertical farming is beneficial to both old and new cities, as it addresses issues such as weather, food insecurity, and supply chains. He explains that vertical farming utilizes minimal space and can produce more yield, making it a viable solution for small plots of land.?

However, he notes that cultural idiosyncrasies and lack of education in the systems are deterrents to the adoption of this method.?

Despite this, Lee emphasizes that everyone can benefit from it, including existing industries that could use it to streamline their production and capitalize on the profits.

Joe: I want to ask a little more questions and dig deeper into vertical farming. This is really interesting.

Lee: Ok, go for it.

Joe: So, one of the things that I've worried about with vertical farming, it's not so much in the resistance of the locals and adopting it, is just that their misconception is that it's not viable for them because they need land to do that. They need property to do that and they need equipment to do that. I'm wondering, are they the target market for vertical farms or vertical farms for the expansion of these new cities? Like BGC? Like, or like could vertical farming be part of the system? Of both?

Lee: Both, because these new cities could utilize these systems to be different from the old cities and to be modernized. The threats that I mentioned before, the weather, the food insecurity, the supply chains, the production, consistent production, those are all issues that everyone faces.? Whether you're building a new city or you have your old piece of land, it just makes sense to add these growing systems because that makes them modern and they in turn? evolve. Vertical farming can be taught to utilize the least amount of space and produce the most amount of bags. So it applies to both new cities and small land spaces.The traditional philosophy of agriculture assumed that this long flat piece of land, had a hole in it filled with seeds and then grew on top of the land. Well, vertical farming basically takes a portion of your flat piece of land, breaks it down into one little small square and then builds directly vertically upwards. It's vertical farming directly up in the air, right? So it's just like building these big apartment buildings. They have no problem going 60 floors. So why don't you go 20 floors vertically with some agriculture?

Joe: And with all of these new housing developments, these could be all part of the plant where we could harvest green tap water.

Lee: The Utopia is where everything recycles itself. Everything is self contained and everyone wins. Now, does it always happen? No. And so that's what the interesting part is, is the potential? to reapply, you know, new advancements such as that. And the irony is, if you went back in time, and everyone had been taught from the beginning when buildings started showing up, “Hey, here's how to plant your own garden in your own house, and here's how to do it,.” Then, this would've been normal, right? But it wasn't. So, you know, we're learning that we have to retrain that.

Joe: Education is part of the plan.

Lee: Yeah, totally.

Joe: Now let me just ask the hard question about this. What keeps us from doing this? Well, what are the biggest deterrents?

Lee: Well, my, my observation. First of all, the idiosyncrasies of the people. The Philippines culture, Philippines society already has a long agricultural history of how to grow food. So this is a different take on that. And this is very different from what they've usually been doing. The Philippines was an agricultural society originally. So the evolution of all these islands came from some group of people in their island plowing this big plot of land and creating traditional growing systems. What this is doing is providing a modern evolved method of growing that accommodates so they don't have to use so much land and expose so much land to threats. So idiosyncrasies first. Second, is to get the buy-in of the players in the other sectors of agriculture, such as those involved in supply chains, supermarkets, marketing, etc. Once they can see the benefits, then they would want to execute on this as well.

Joe: Other industries?

Lee: Oh yeah, yeah. Across the board. The food producers, the food transporters and the food sellers. And you know what's cool about this? Even they could use it so they could totally siphon down and streamline their production, their capital usage, income and sources of profit. In the utopias, everyone does it, everyone wins. And yet, at the moment, they could still apply these systems to their current structures and benefit as well. So everyone can use it, everyone.

Joe: And not only that, and , it's already proof from the pudding where you could see cities. What I call mall cities here, where, it's private industry that is developing these sort of, utopia types, situations and neighborhoods that attract foreigners and also attract social change, right?

Because it's widening the roads. Maybe quality food, right?

Lee: We can even talk about the new projects they currently have, the reclamation projects going on in Manila Bay, going straight down Manila Bay.? The renderings of what these cities are gonna look like are beautiful and have no land space for agricultural production. So vertical farming is a necessity there. Like it's almost a shoe-in. If I'm planning that place, I would include it. And then they can maximize the limited space and provide food systems to the residents there.

One of the issues in this country has always been, with 7,000 islands, transport and supply chain. You know, if you're growing all your cabbage up in the Northern Zone, how are you getting that down to Boracay? Siargao? All those places. Well, if you install vertical farming already on Boracay itself, and then you do it in Siargao, they become self-sustained. If you go out to Bicol and there's some little, 50 meter by 50 meter island, which is one of the 7,000, it still counts. So you build a little bahay kubo with nice solid walls and go up 20 feet. Then you all of a sudden have vertical farming going on, on a 20 by 20. So it makes sense in the smallest of spaces. But you gotta change the paradigm of "no, we've never grown here on this island, so we're not agriculture."

Well, you can grow one. You built a hotel there. And it works well. This can too.?

Joe: This is probably my last question, but I wanted to preface it well with a few things, right? My interest in vertical farming and, agriculture industry, new money versus old money, has a lot to do with my preconception that it all starts with nutrition, right?

Nutrition would allow for people to, you know, manifest the brain power, first of all, and the health in order for them to do something with the education that they would receive.?

And we all know that in this society, sugar is everywhere. Am I right to think so?

Lee: The easy solution is just install nutrition programs at the different local levels. The Philippines’ strength and power comes at the level of the LGUs, the local government units. So you can work with governors over seeing large areas with many islands, but the LGUs could help directly in specific places and locations.?

The other way to do it is to get a lot more media, artists, celebrities, and influencers, are already promoting all these established kinds of processed food brands.

So why not start promoting healthy, natural food brands? And a lot of them would do it.?

Joe: This was an awesome interview. Yeah. I'm really glad we got to sit down and talk.

Lee: Yeah, totally. My pleasure and thanks for the interview.?

Joe: So thank you so much. Appreciate it. Yeah, cool, cool. Excellent.

We concluded with a positive feeling about our conversation, having covered the subjects we both wanted to touch on regarding the incoming investments anticipated in the ensuing months and years. We took our final sip before bussing our own mugs and pushing our chairs in, and then we both agreed that this is an exciting time for business and technology in the Philippines.

To find out more about the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, visit the homepage.