Carmen’s Best, from Garage Ice Cream to Global Success

As with most tales of success, the origin of Magsaysay’s business started as an accident. When the task of selling his family farm’s excess milk production proved to be impossible, Magsaysay found himself at home, baking cookies and brownies with his children. That was the lightbulb moment. In his garage, armed only with a small ice cream maker, he made the archetype for Carmen’s Best Ice Cream.

The personal project, named after his only daughter, was supposed to be a small-scale neighbourhood business. It wasn’t so much about making frozen desserts as it was a showcase of their top-grade fresh milk. But, continuing with the tradition of inadvertent accomplishments, people clamored for more. “I never imagined we would be selling ice cream beyond our village,” he admits.

Rising to the top

In a calorie-rich industry full of commercial and artisan options, the dilettante baker took to a simple recipe to make sure his ice cream was at par with the best out there. He wanted to sell ice cream that he himself would enjoy and that began with premium ingredients. He already had the milk anyway.

Magsaysay also educated himself with everything he could about crafting the frozen treat. He pored over YouTube videos and books before eventually studying a course at Pennsylvania State University, where his icy concoctions won the Keeney “Most Promising” award.

From cranking out 10 ounces of ice cream at a time with his home equipment, the entrepreneurial Magsaysay kicked the business in high gear upon his return, perfecting his formula. “Carmen’s Best is a combination of high fat, the best and freshest ingredients, and not pumping too much air into the ice cream as a more liquid mix means a better mouthfeel,” he explains.

Though his marketing efforts were minimal compared to other businesses, Magsaysay opted for a more traditional approach: “We simply make ours so good that people can’t resist telling their friends and family about it.”

Moving beyond his village, Magsaysay took Carmen’s Best to weekend markets, then eventually opened it for retail distribution in supermarkets and restaurants.

In December 2014, Magsaysay received his FDA approval, prompting him to move to the next phase of his plans—going overseas. However, not even a month later, another chance incident would propel Carmen’s Best to international, er, pontifical status.

The Singapore takeover

On January 20, 2015, local newspapers reported the various Filipino products that the Pope enjoyed on his flight back to Rome after a five-day trip to the Philippines. Unknown to Magsaysay, Philippine Airlines staff served two flavors of Carmen’s Best to the Holy Father.

Shortly after, the country’s flagship carrier began offering Carmen’s Best varieties to its long- flight and business-class passengers. In 2018, Magsaysay opened his first brick-and-mortar shop in Rockwell. A year later, he opened a second—in Singapore.

“I knew from the get-go that we were going to export our ice cream. In fact, I’d been applying with the Intellectual Property Office since 2014 to reserve our brand Carmen’s Best in the different Asian countries that we planned to export to,” says Magsaysay.

Though Carmen’s Best wasn’t a household name in Singapore, Magsaysay found a local partner who shared his ideals and they were confident enough to jump into the competition. “The shop location at Capitol Mall, chosen by our distributor, was a big help in the introduction process. It is well-situated and boasts good traffic. Thankfully, it has managed to survive the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic,” he adds.

Turning to an old reliable, Magsaysay let his unforgettable ice cream work its magic. “As more Singaporeans got to try our ice cream, they told their friends and family about it. It is the same way we grew Carmen’s Best in the Philippines.”

The pandemic rocky road

Despite Carmen’s Best’s sound business strategies, it wasn’t immune from the effects of the pandemic. The restaurants, shops, hotels, and airlines that distributed the award-winning ice cream all had to downsize, which also meant that orders scaled down. And since indoor dining and non-essential outings were discouraged, his Rockwell showroom also had to take a backseat. Magsaysay had to reconfigure his tactics and find a way to sell directly to users.

“Initially, we developed our Community Reseller Program,” he shares. “This helped bring our ice cream ‘closer’ to the consumers. It was community/village-based and city/provincial-based outside of Metro Manila.” Moreover, on May 1, Carmen’s Best also launched e-commerce on their website.

It would appear, however, that the pandemic is only a minor speed bump to Magsaysay plans.

Letting us in on the inside scoop, he reveals that they are currently conversing with a company in the U.S. to distribute Carmen’s Best. “We are also in discussion with a company in Japan and a group in Korea to bring Carmen’s Best to those markets.”

They are lofty goals, but anyone who’s ever had a taste of Carmen’s Best will probably understand that nothing is surprising to this next chapter. There’s no end to Carmen’s Best’s story yet, but it’s hard to believe that it all started with leftovers.