Filipino Ice Cream… Beware of the OMGpeke in the USA… Always check the label… Just because it has the logo of a brand you were familiar with growing up in the Philippines, it doesn’t mean it’s the real thing… Many brands of the Philippines have been unethically pirated by American companies.
Despite the fact that San Miguel Philippines created the Magnolia Ice Cream brand in the 1920s, SMC is prohibited from selling its Pinoy ice cream in the USA under the Magnolia name. Why? Because the Quesada family (Ramar company) trademarked the Magnolia logo for their own exclusive use!!
Passionfruit? Grape? Honey Lavender? Nope! Purple Ice Cream has to be none other than the UBE flavor of the Philippines!
UBE (oo-beh) is Purple Yam… a root crop you dig from under the ground.
Arce Dairy is a popular brand of ice-cream originated by and genuinely made in the Philippines by Filipinos.
A company in the United States has been marking their own ice-cream products with the “Magnolia” name, using San Miguel’s iconic oval logo.
That company Ramar has no affiliation with San Miguel Philippines. Even today, many Filipino Americans assume that the Magnolia ice-cream they eat in the USA is related to the Magnolia in the Philippines. It is not.
On the flight out of the country after his visit the Philippines, Pope Francis reportedly indulged in a pint of Carmen’s Best ice cream. Whether part of apocrypha or not, the story is a testament to the high esteem that Carmen’s Best enjoys in the country.