San Miguel

The San Miguel Corporation (SMC) was founded in 1890 and is one of the Philippines’ most diversified conglomerates, with a workforce of over 15,000 generating close to three percent of the country’s gross national product. The company is perhaps best known for San Miguel Beer, its flagship product, which is among the top ten beer brands in the world.

One of San Miguel’s better known brands is Magnolia, its dairy product subsidiary. From its start in 1925, Magnolia branded ice cream was one of the most recognizable and enduring brands in the Philippines and holds the distinction of being the oldest branded ice cream in Asia. 

The American company RAMAR started using the Magnolia brand identity in the 1970s without any permission from San Miguel. RAMAR was also able to register the Magnolia trademark for ice cream, without authorization from San Miguel… In fact, RAMAR formally objected to San Miguel’s application to register Magnolia in the United States… Furthermore, not satisfied with the ice cream, RAMAR has been trying to prevent SMC from selling Magnolia-branded cheese, margarine and butter in the United States.