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Theirs was one setback after another, for others they could have given up and call it quits easily. But for couples Pete and Cathy Delantar, the saying “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going” was their battle cry.

And the couple was able to rebound with the help of a pile of twigs, branches, leaves and dry barks that they were able to produce because of the clearing operation that they did. They were scattered on the road that leads to their furniture store.

They were both from a company that exported furniture. They used to fight a lot, but as fate would have it, they fell in love and got married. They left the company and started their own furniture business.

They were just into trading at the start, but inevitably went into manufacturing too. Their first setback – demands for rattan furniture went down and failure of one their client to pay eventually led to the closure of their business.

But it really doesn’t stop there. Once in Australia to help a former client, Pete saw a collection of ornamentals plants in huge vases which are called planters in one of the hotels. He studied them and thought that he can do them.

Upon reaching back home, Pete together with his wife Cathy, experimented with a material that was lighter than the usual stone materials being used. This material is called stonecast. They were able to produce their prototype planter, set up a company they called Nature’s Legacy and made it big in the US market with their stonecast product in the late 1980s.

They must have been overwhelmed by their success that they failed to apply stonecast for patent, and in the 1990s other manufacturers are filing cases against them for using stonecast. But being the resilient couple that they are, instead of focusing on the depression brought about by this problem, they instead develop NaturesCast.

That was how the pile of twigs was able to save their business. Cathy, being the artistic one, was able to make use of the materials that would otherwise just go to waste. Using nature’s scrap like dead barks, leaves, fallen twigs, shrubs and other agro-forest waste, she was able to produce wide array of handcrafted products.

And learning from their stonecast experience, they made sure that they patented NaturesCast. These biodegradable materials are always a hit in every trade show that they joined. Their products line up includes sandals, necklaces, earrings and bangles among others.

While not really known in the Philippines, NaturesCast is already getting popular in the United States and Europe. One of their claims to fame is the recent Grammy awards where NaturesCast’s chairs and tables were used in the lounge where the event was held.

One famous Hollywood personality too ordered a bassinet from them. This was designed by a famous Las Vegas designer and wants them to do it making NaturesCast’s materials.

Cathy’s dream for NaturesCast to become an international brand exclusively made in the Philippines. With famous stores like Smith and Hawkens, Frontgate, Neiman Marcus, Jonathan Adler carrying their lines, this is not a remote possibility.