Magnolia is a Philippine ice-cream brand that was commercially established in the year 1925. It has belonged to the San Miguel company for most of its history.
In the 1970s, a totally unaffiliated Filipino American family in California USA started marking their own ice-cream products with the “Magnolia” name in order to surf on the goodwill that the original Magnolia had developed among Filipinos from the old country.
The Filipino American family Quesada, operating as the Ramar company, filed a trademark application claiming the Magnolia mark for their exclusive use in the United States. The fact that San Miguel had been using the Magnolia name and logo for much longer in the Philippines and was the originator of that name and logo was irrelevant under U.S. law.
To reiterate: The Magnolia Ice Cream you see in stores in the United States is NOT in any way related to or endorsed by San Miguel Philippines, Maine Mendoza, Alden Richards or the AlDub Nation.
These are the flavors of the original Magnolia Ice Cream of the Philippines and NOT of the OMGpeke ice cream of the United States, aka Magnolia Ice Cream USA.
Durian Pastillas, Pinipig Pandan, Caramel Cashew Fudge, Macapuno Banana, Ube Keso, Macapuno Langka, Mangoes and Cream, Kesong Puti, Cashew Sansrival (flavors of Palawan & Dumaguete), Mango and Mangosteen (flavors of Guimaras & Davao), Strawberry Red Velvet Otap (flavors of Benguet & Cebu), Sili Con Tsokolate Eh! (flavors of Bicol & Batangas)
Macapuno Ube Ripple, Sweet Corn, Creamy Halo-Halo, Mangoes & Cream, Macapuno Langka
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.
In a recent statement, Ramar Foods asserts that it owns the incontestable rights to the Magnolia brand for ice cream and meats in the United States.
Sure it’s legal, but it’s not ethical.
Any rational person who hears of the details of the OMGpeke scandal understands the situation clearly. “United States trademark law allows it, but it doesn’t mean it’s ethical.”
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.