Magnolia Ice Cream
Encyclopedia
Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream is a Philippine
brand of ice cream sold domestically in the Philippines
and in other markets such as Thailand
, the United States
, Australia
, Malaysia, and Singapore
.
Magnolia was founded in 1925 and the company's tropical ice cream
flavours include Halo-halo
(a mix of fruits and beans), Buko Pandán (young coconut
with pandan), Maís-Queso (corn
and cheese
), avocado
, Nangkasúy (jackfruit
with cashew
), Ube and Buko Salad (young coconut and fruit), and Macapuno (coconut sport
). The brand also offers mango
and other flavours like chocolate
, strawberry
, and vanilla
. They also sell special-edition ice cream dubbed "Flavor of The Month," which is only sold for a month.
Magnolia is a division of San Miguel Corporation
, one Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerates in Asia. It was purchased by Nestle
Philippines in 1999, but the brand was relaunched by San Miguel in the Philippines in 2004 after a five year hiatus.
Upon reintroduction rocky road
, cookies and cream
, dulce de leche
and double dutch
were added as "gold label" flavors. In 2008 the company introduced Coffee Vienna and Waffle Cheesecake for the Christmas holidays.
Magnolia brand ice creams originated in Manila
, a tropical city with a hot and humid climate. Flavors like purple taro ice cream, are said to be especially refreshing, and one reviewer compared it to cookies-and-cream.
until the 1990s
Magnolia operated an ice cream parlor at its plant along Aurora Boulevard in Manila, "where customers could feast on traditional concoctions like banana splits, sundaes and parfaits," and opened many additional locations around the city. The parlor was part of the deal when Magnolia was acquired by Nestle
in 1996 and the name Magnolia was phased into Nestle branded ice creams, but it was reintroduced in 2004 by San Miguel and the parlor reopened with a partner in 2008. The division had been marketed as one of the "family" brands of San Miguel.The reintroduction followed the expiration of a non-compete clause
.
The company expanded and modernized in the early 1990s, with three new plants including one in Iliolo, part of a P25 billion investment plan. Other ice cream production plants were located in Quezon City
, Cebu
, Davao
and Cagayan de Oro, reducing transportation costs.
San Miguel had been barred from participating in the ice cream industry for five years starting in 1998, following the "sale of its 45% stake in its joint venture with Nestle S.A. of Switzerland, Nestle Philippines Inc." due to a non-compete clause in the agreement. A multi-product industrial park and plant was planned in the Laguna industrial park in Santa Rosa City
outside Manila
costing $18 million and was expected to come on line in 2005. San Miguel is one of Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerates. The company is working to regain market leadership in bulk ice cream "through innovations in product packaging and cheaper but premium quality products" in a market at P5 billion and dominated by Unilever’s Selecta brand with 40 percent, Nestle with 35 percent and Magnolia with only two percent, as of 2008.
In 2009 the company decorated its containers with artworks by renown Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo
.
of Unilever
Thai Trading and Nestle's Thai division. About 60 percent of the total output is slated for exports. The company produced over 300 stock-keeping units in 2005, the smallest unit of measure when the ice-cream is issued from or returned to a warehouse, and had a research and development centre exclusively for the Magnolia ice-cream. According to an executive, "We want to make Thailand stronger as a production centre for Magnolia ice-cream. We have no plans to move the plant to China as we believe Thailand can produce better and high-quality products."
In the United States, the Magnolia Brand and Trademark are owned by a separate family business which has no connection to San Miguel Corporation. The ice cream is manufactured by Ramar International Corp. in Pittsburg, California
which "produces a quality line of ice cream based on traditional Filipino flavors" including their best seller, Ube, an ice cream made from purple yams. Currently, Ramar Foods produces one of the only tropical ice cream products in the industry made from real Butterfat
, as opposed to Mellorine
, which is common among tropical ice cream brands. According to manufacturing manager Steven Eis, the ice cream is very popular in the Filipino communities and is sold in ethnic grocery stores throughout California and Hawaii
. "But it's beginning to draw customers from outside the market as people search for alternatives to vanilla and chocolate."
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
brand of ice cream sold domestically in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and in other markets such as Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Malaysia, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Magnolia was founded in 1925 and the company's tropical ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
flavours include Halo-halo
Halo-halo
Halo-halo is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl....
(a mix of fruits and beans), Buko Pandán (young coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
with pandan), Maís-Queso (corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
), avocado
Avocado
The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...
, Nangkasúy (jackfruit
Jackfruit
The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family . It is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, . The jackfruit tree is believed to be indigenous to the southwestern rain forests of India...
with cashew
Cashew
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
), Ube and Buko Salad (young coconut and fruit), and Macapuno (coconut sport
Sport (disambiguation)
Sport is organised or unorganised recreation. Today it usually implies competition, usually implies following rules, and often means competitive sports and games. Originally in English, sport is leisure, as in hunting or fishing wildlife for entertainment rather than for subsistence or for the market...
). The brand also offers mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
and other flavours like chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, and vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
. They also sell special-edition ice cream dubbed "Flavor of The Month," which is only sold for a month.
Magnolia is a division of San Miguel Corporation
San Miguel Corporation
Established in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel Corporation is Southeast Asia's largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company with over 17,000 employees in over 100 major facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific....
, one Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerates in Asia. It was purchased by Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
Philippines in 1999, but the brand was relaunched by San Miguel in the Philippines in 2004 after a five year hiatus.
Upon reintroduction rocky road
Rocky road
Rocky Road is a type of dessert made up of milk chocolate and marshmallow which is usually served in individual portions such as a cupcake or in American cuisine, as an ice cream flavor.-Australia:...
, cookies and cream
Cookies and Cream
Cookies and Cream is a variety of ice cream and milkshake based on flavoring from chocolate cookies. Often called the "King Kong of Ice Cream" because it immediately rocketed to the top of the World's Favorite Ice Cream Flavor list. The "Cookies and Cream" ice cream uses sweet cream ice cream ...
, dulce de leche
Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
and double dutch
Double Dutch
Double Dutch may refer to:* Double Dutch , a children's game* Double Dutch, a language game primarily used in English:**Tutnese**Ubbi dubbi**Izzle* Double Dutch , a writing style used by John O'Mill...
were added as "gold label" flavors. In 2008 the company introduced Coffee Vienna and Waffle Cheesecake for the Christmas holidays.
Magnolia brand ice creams originated in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, a tropical city with a hot and humid climate. Flavors like purple taro ice cream, are said to be especially refreshing, and one reviewer compared it to cookies-and-cream.
History
From the 1960s1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
until the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
Magnolia operated an ice cream parlor at its plant along Aurora Boulevard in Manila, "where customers could feast on traditional concoctions like banana splits, sundaes and parfaits," and opened many additional locations around the city. The parlor was part of the deal when Magnolia was acquired by Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
in 1996 and the name Magnolia was phased into Nestle branded ice creams, but it was reintroduced in 2004 by San Miguel and the parlor reopened with a partner in 2008. The division had been marketed as one of the "family" brands of San Miguel.The reintroduction followed the expiration of a non-compete clause
Non-compete clause
A non-compete clause , or covenant not to compete , is a term used in contract law under which one party agrees not to pursue a similar profession or trade in competition against another party . As a contract provision, a CNC is bound by traditional contract requirements including the...
.
The company expanded and modernized in the early 1990s, with three new plants including one in Iliolo, part of a P25 billion investment plan. Other ice cream production plants were located in Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
, Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, Davao
Davao
Davao refers to several closely related places in Mindanao in the Philippines. The term is used most often to refer to the city.*Davao Region, an administrative region*Davao del Norte province*Davao del Sur province*Davao Oriental province...
and Cagayan de Oro, reducing transportation costs.
San Miguel had been barred from participating in the ice cream industry for five years starting in 1998, following the "sale of its 45% stake in its joint venture with Nestle S.A. of Switzerland, Nestle Philippines Inc." due to a non-compete clause in the agreement. A multi-product industrial park and plant was planned in the Laguna industrial park in Santa Rosa City
Santa Rosa City
The City of Santa Rosa is a first class city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. It is also known as "The Lion City of the South" since 1994...
outside Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
costing $18 million and was expected to come on line in 2005. San Miguel is one of Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerates. The company is working to regain market leadership in bulk ice cream "through innovations in product packaging and cheaper but premium quality products" in a market at P5 billion and dominated by Unilever’s Selecta brand with 40 percent, Nestle with 35 percent and Magnolia with only two percent, as of 2008.
In 2009 the company decorated its containers with artworks by renown Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto is one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light...
.
International Operations
In Thailand, Magnolia is manufactured by Singapore based Fraser & Neave, a company that in 1999 established its first presence in Thailand with 500 million baht investment to buy the United ice-cream brand from a Thai partner "After the acquisition, it closed all ice-cream factories in Singapore and Malaysia and relocated the production to Thailand and F&N rebranded the United ice-cream into Magnolia." Six years later F&N's Magnolia is profitable according to a company executive and among the top three brands in Thailand's six-billion-baht ice-cream market, after Wall'sWall's
Wall's may refer to:*Wall's ice cream*Wall's sausages*Wall Drug...
of Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
Thai Trading and Nestle's Thai division. About 60 percent of the total output is slated for exports. The company produced over 300 stock-keeping units in 2005, the smallest unit of measure when the ice-cream is issued from or returned to a warehouse, and had a research and development centre exclusively for the Magnolia ice-cream. According to an executive, "We want to make Thailand stronger as a production centre for Magnolia ice-cream. We have no plans to move the plant to China as we believe Thailand can produce better and high-quality products."
In the United States, the Magnolia Brand and Trademark are owned by a separate family business which has no connection to San Miguel Corporation. The ice cream is manufactured by Ramar International Corp. in Pittsburg, California
Pittsburg, California
Pittsburg is a city located in eastern Contra Costa County, California, the outer portion of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 63,264 at the 2010 census....
which "produces a quality line of ice cream based on traditional Filipino flavors" including their best seller, Ube, an ice cream made from purple yams. Currently, Ramar Foods produces one of the only tropical ice cream products in the industry made from real Butterfat
Butterfat
Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain.- Composition :The fatty acids of butterfat are typically composed as follows :...
, as opposed to Mellorine
Mellorine
Mellorine is a lower cost alternative to ice cream, wherein other fats are used instead of butterfat. It can be made from both animal fat and vegetable fat....
, which is common among tropical ice cream brands. According to manufacturing manager Steven Eis, the ice cream is very popular in the Filipino communities and is sold in ethnic grocery stores throughout California and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. "But it's beginning to draw customers from outside the market as people search for alternatives to vanilla and chocolate."