Aside from the different booths, there were programs by different products, too. I was invited to watch the program by Magnolia Ice Cream, so this post will talk more about their program.
Almost every Filipino knows about Magnolia Ice Cream. And why not? Magnolia is actually the first Philippine brand of Ice Cream, tracing its history way back in 1925. Since then, several ice cream parlors were put up, starting the Filipinos' love affair with ice cream. The Philippines being a tropical climate, ice cream instantly became a favorite food to cope up with humidity during summer days. Come to think of it, ice cream doesn't doesn't choose a particular time - even if it's rainy and cold, eating ice cream still makes one feel comfortable (especially during low moments).
At some point in time, Magnolia Ice Cream stopped producing ice cream. They first teamed up with Nestle (I remember there used to be Magnolia-Nestle Ice Cream), until the Magnolia name was dropped. Although the Magnolia brand still produced dairy products, it was seven years ago when they realized Magnolia is not really the same without ice cream, so even with different ice cream brands in the market, Magnolia still put their name back in the ice cream scene.
Something I am thankful about, really. Magnolia has been part of my childhood, and even if I don't eat that much ice cream, I consider their classic strawberry flavor my favorite. Even if they were out of the market for sometime, their ice cream are still the same - flavorful, creamy, and yummy!
Magnolia Ice Cream continues to innovate and come up with innovative ideas, and their newest product (launched last September) is the Classic Medley ice cream - combining two favorite classic flavors. There are three flavors:
- Black and White - a combination of chocolate and vanilla flavors
- Dare Devil - a combination of chocolate and strawberry flavors
- Bumblebee - a combination of mango and caramel flavors.
I got to taste the Black and White and Dare Devil flavors, but because I already had my ice cream "quota" (I can't eat that much ice cream because my tummy might have a negative reaction), I wasn't able to taste the Bumblebee. Well, it's something am excited to try next time because only Magnolia carries the caramel flavor, and pairing it with the mango flavor (they uses Guimaras mangoes, by the way - Guimaras is a place known for its sweet mangoes) sounded really yummy. Well, the ones I ate were good, too, especially the Dare Devil, because like I said, their classic strawberry flavor is my favorite ice cream.
In 2008, they launched the Tub Wraps contest, giving opportunity to students of different colleges and universities to showcase their talents. Another unique thing about Magnolia Ice Cream - they seemed to be the only brand with unique tub wraps as part of their Summer and Christmas limited edition ice cream flavors. These tubs don't just look cute, the tubs are really something to collect because it's scratch proof and microwaveable, making it totally reusable for many other different things. Talking about my own family, we collect the tubs and use it to store frozen goods. Not only are tubs sturdy, they look good, too, whenever we open the freezer.
The event was hosted by Nicole Hyala, a popular radio jock, known for her contagious laugh and humor. She really liven up the audience. :)
This may be an event to award the 2011 Tub Wrap Contest, but they also prepared games for the audience. Game 1 involved partners, both with blindfold. They had to feed each other an ice cream on stick, and the first team to eat up all their ice cream will win. Game 2 was for the longest "Magnolia Ice Creeeeeeeaaaammmm." The contestant who won was able to do it for 17 seconds. Wow.
This year's Tub Wrap Contest's theme is "What I Want for Christmas." 16 Colleges and Universities joined the contest, and all-in-all there were 66 entries. Presenting the winners...
3rd place winner is Ms. Joanna Marie Dionisio, a Fine Arts student of Bulacan State University. She won p10,000.
2nd place winner is Mr. Myronne Ramirez of STI (Systems Technology Institute) Sta. Maria, Bulacan. He won p15,000.
Biggest winner this year is Mr. Marvin Quizon, who like Joanna, is from the Bulacan State University. He's a third year Fine Arts student, and he won p20,000 for his masterpiece.
Marvin's creation will be the Magnolia Ice Cream tub wrap when they release their limited edition flavor for Christmas - the Triple Chocolate Treat. This flavor will be available in the market starting 25 October, and is a very big treat to all chocoholics.
I wasn't able to take a picture of all the tub's side, but when asked about his creation, Marvin told something about the Noche Buena, the Filipinos' Christmas midnight feast tradition. It centered on families, and if I remember it correctly, he told something about some family members having to live separately (as more and more parents and other family members had to go leave their families to work overseas), but one side of the tub pictured a couple hugging - symbolizing the family member coming home for Christmas.
Magnolia Ice Cream didn't stop honoring the Filipinos' talents by awarding the winners, they also showcased other Filipino talents by presenting different intermission numbers by Freestylers and Alakim - two talents who made it to the Grand Finals of Pilipinas Got Talent.
That moment was filled with great talents, indeed. It's so great that there a truly-Filipino brand like Magnolia Ice Cream (and San Miguel) that never stop honoring what Filipinos can offer.
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my