By Nina Huang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Raylen Margono had suffered from Asian glow and was embarrassed by the redness that would appear on his face and neck. So he decided to come up with a solution by creating the world’s first gummy, Ando, to help relieve the symptoms of the alcohol flush reaction otherwise known as “Asian glow” or “Asian flush.”
Despite affecting over 15 million Asian Americans, Ando is only the second U.S.-based brand to tackle this problem.
“Asian flush” is a condition in which a person develops flushes or blotches associated with erythema on the face, neck, shoulders, ears, and sometimes other body parts as a result of consuming alcohol. The reaction is a result of an accumulation of acetaldehyde, a metabolic byproduct of the catabolic metabolism of alcohol, and is caused by aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 deficiency.
“Ando means relief in Korean, which is fitting for the type of problem we’re trying to solve. It’s reflective of our mission to make you feel yourself when you drink,” Margono said.
Margono was born in Indonesia but moved to Singapore when he was 3. He attended an American school there and was surrounded by the expatriate community as well as a blend of Asians.
He never noticed the Asian glow because he was always around Asians growing up, but when he came to the U.S. for college, that’s when he started noticing it.
He graduated from New York University in 2013 with degrees in computer science and philosophy.
As he started to get into his late 20s, he became more and more self-conscious about the internal effects of Asian flush—rapid heartbeat, discomfort, and he spent the last two to three years trying out new products to relieve his symptoms. He tried everything from pills and patches to liquid shots, and then he set out to build something of his own.
That’s when Ando was born.
Margono has always been interested in health and wellness.
“It’s been a big part of my upbringing and family culture. Health is a big centerpiece for Asian families,” he said.
Margono’s mother was a yoga teacher and he played a lot of sports growing up.
“At a young age, I learned how to set up life for success in health and I played rugby and basketball in high school, and now I box. I always find ways to improve and set myself up for success physically and mentally,” he said.
“The joy I get is from helping out folks that are underserved and bringing products and services to them to help better their lives whether it’s a company, foundation, product, employment that’s what motivates me in my life and how to give back to your community,” Margono shared.
He took the baseline of what worked, based on other products, and worked with copackers to translate that into a gummy. There are key active ingredients found in other similar products that they leveraged to tackle this problem.
Ando’s ingredients are all FDA approved and have undergone extensive testing.
Ando isn’t just for Asians. Margono shared that the gummy is for anyone who suffers from Asian glow or the general discomfort from alcohol flush reaction, as this can affect anyone from any ethnic background.
“Ever since I started taking it, Ando has helped me be more social and get more out of my weekends by reducing the embarrassing effects of Asian flush and crippling hangovers I would get every time I drank. AND it’s super tasty so I don’t mind taking it every time I go out,” shared Kevin T., a consumer who left a review of Ando on the website.
Margono’s college friend and Ando’s co-founder, Peter Czepiga, supports the company with his experience in marketing and sales distribution. Margono does the rest including finance, customer support, and growth.
“Going through this journey, I realized how, if you do choose to drink, how important it is to take care of your health. It’s even more paramount that you take these precautions because there are side effects from drinking, that can be quite detrimental to one’s health and you do need to take necessary health precautions. There can be a lack of education that’s out there around what actually happens and I hope my company can raise this awareness that impacts my community and allow them to take necessary steps forward to protect themselves and enjoy time with friends,” he said.
As Margono and his team were working on the product, he started seeing why people gravitated towards the pill form because turning things into food or candy can be very hard.
“The number one thing that we wanted to focus on was taste. It took us around seven months because the thing that was holding us back from going live was the taste. We wanted to make it a pleasant consumer experience,” he explained.
Margono added that it required a lot of testing, trial and error, as well as experts and nights out drinking to figure out the right recipe for the mixed berry flavor.
He says that consumers can take the gummy 30 minutes before they start drinking and can be taken continuously throughout the night if Asian glow symptoms accumulate.
Ando can be purchased online at andogummy.com. Use GLOW20 for 20% off.
Nina can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.