Tags: Beverages, Food Establishments, Healthy Food and Drinks
By Alexander Villafania
BORACAY ISLAND, AKLAN – In the early 1980s, Dionisio Salme was working for a real estate owner. A resident of Negros Occidental, he was uprooted to work in Aklan.
In those years, Boracay was a little-known island that only foreigners mostly knew for its pristine white sand beaches and its windy east side that was perfect for surfboarding and kite boarding.
Struck with an idea, he moved to the island, which had nothing else but a few huts and some basic utilities. He saw the potential of the island as a tourist destination and he put up one of the earliest beach resorts, which he called Jony’s.
First, he put a few huts that catered to mostly foreign tourists. This has grown to a 21-room, multi-floor structure that is just less than 100 meters from the beach.
After over 25 years in operation, the resort continues to stand amid massive infrastructure and commercial growth in Boracay.
Along with the opening of the huts, Mang Dionisio also opened a small restaurant and bar. His specialty is making mixed variety shakes, many of which he developed on his own. These include young coconut shakes, pineapple-mango, mango-banana, mango-papaya-strawberry, papaya banana, among others.
One especially popular shake flavor is what he calls the Banana Peanut Butter Dream, a blend that follows the same concept as the banana peanut butter ice cream. “We hit the right spot with this blend,” he says.
He recalls how his business started when a European tourist came to the island with a blender where he mixed a number of fruits and drank it to his liking. Emulating the concept, Mang Dionisio came out with his own variety. The shake eventually became the key to his resort’s success.
With the growth of his restaurant and bar business, he also expanded to local and international food. One of his children took up culinary arts and became the head food developer for the restaurant.
Businesses have come and gone in Boracay and Salme has seen them all. He ascribed his success in business to knowing how exactly he would want to feel if he were to live in an island resort.
“I was not a resident here before so I thought the same way that a tourist would think whenever going to a resort. That way, I would be able to anticipate their demands.”
While Boracay has been essentially “invaded” by big brand hotel chains, he still believes that small resorts like Jony’s would survive. And although there is potential for him to expand his business he said he is already content with what he has.
“We cater to those who still like the feeling of staying in a quaint place,” he says.
Get more information about Jony’s
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