CITY of BALANGA, Bataan – Representing their father, Francisco “Paco” Magsaysay as Galing Bataan Trade Fair guest of honor, Mikey and Jaime, shared how their father’s simple business, “Carmen’s Best” ice cream became the best locally made premium ice cream in the country.
Paco Magsaysay, a son of former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., named the business after his youngest daughter, Carmen. Thus the name of the brand came to life.
As his son Mikey related, he said it all started when their grandfather Ramon Magsaysay, established a dairy farm in Laguna in 2008, producing fresh cow’s milk.
At that time, Mikey said that his father learned about the plentiful supply of “cream” in said farm which is a major component of making ice cream, being thrown away.
One day, his father took home some cream and thru “youtube,” tried experimenting how to make ice cream in their small kitchen.
Mikey added that his father did not get it right the first time, but persevered after a couple more tries and after months of trying on different flavors, he got the right taste, texture and consistency he wanted, coming up with the best locally made premium ice cream brand.
All the rest is history, Mikey stressed that when they introduced Carmen’s Best at Rockwell’s ultimate taste, they got the no. 1 ranking; they were also named “Best Filipino Artisanal Ice Cream” in a blog “Our Awesome Planet.”
Despite initial success, Mikey said that his father did not stop from there but enrolled at the famed “Berkey Creamery” of the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences, for a short course together with 120 students representing well known ice cream brands, the likes of Baskin Robbins, Hershey, Haagen-Daz and others of which at the end of the course, his father was given the “2013 Keeney Beany Award” named in honor of Dr. Philip Gregory Keeney, professor emeritus of Penn State and renowned ice cream guru.
Just how successful their business is now, Mikey proudly relates that from his father’s own care delivering “Carmen’s Best,” they now have 3 refrigerated vans delivering all over Metro Manila and other provinces as far as Baguio City; from merely 300 pints a month, they now sell thousands and from the original 8 flavors, they now have 40 variants and still growing.
What they are most proud about “Carmen’s Best” Mikey said, to the level of success they are now enjoying is the corporate social obligation that his father and the family is espousing, wherein part of their sales goes to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) as their support to the Adult Leukemia Treatment Department.
