There are very few international news stories that mention Filipino food, compared to other cuisines. Here are recent articles from an automatically generated feed.
New commemorative stamps featuring the Filipino culinary icon Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes have been issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) for the year 2018.
Ramar Foods, the Northern California company known for pirating food brands from the Philippines, has again been suspended by the USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service upon examination of their meat processing plant. (2017)
Accused of Wage Theft Over The Years, Filstop Closes Both Jersey City and Clifton Locations, Online Store (2020)
Clifton Plaza (Levin Properties) demands $38,000 from Filstop Inc. in Passaic County, NJ
How Chef Tatung Sarthou is merging traditional and contemporary Filipino cuisine
And his thoughts on the evolution of the regional fare
Petition on Change.org to have USPTO cancel Ramar Foods’ Magnolia Ice Cream Trademark Registration
August 27, 2015
Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction In Dispute Over ‘Magnolia’ Mark
SAN FRANCISCO – A limited, permanent injunction barring a declaratory judgment trademark plaintiff from using the “Magnolia” trademark in connection with butter, margarine and cheese (BMC) products domestically was vacated by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (San Miguel Corporation et al. v. Ramar International).
Ramar’s Fake “Filipino Food Movement” Criticized by Filipino Chefs
The San Miguel Corporation of the Philippines is being sued by a Filipino-American food manufacturer in California, which had beaten it in securing an identical Magnolia trademark in the United States.
Note that it was San Miguel that created the Magnolia brand and logo in the Philippines and the company has been developing the brand’s goodwill among Filipinos in the Philippines since the 1920s.
Ramar Foods is an upstart USA company that started marking its own American-made products with practically the same logo, presumably duping Filipino Americans into thinking that it is related to Magnolia ice cream in the Philippines.
Ramar Foods opposed the application of San Miguel Corporation to register the mark Magnolia for ice cream (1991, 1993)
In 2000, the Philippine Islands’ largest conglomerate, San Miguel Corp., lost a long legal fight to stop a California company, Ramar Foods, from selling Magnolia ice cream, a brand San Miguel owned.
From its Oakland factory, Ramar produced flavors that were nearly identical to Magnolia’s — lychee, avocado, corn-cheese and ube — and used packaging and logos very similar to the Filipino company’s. However, there has never been a licensing agreement between Ramar and San Miguel. Ramar was able to get away with making profits off Magnolia’s trade name and trademark logo, because Ramar had filed an application for those in the United States and asserted that it had been using that name and logo for decades. The fact that San Miguel had been using the Magnolia name and logo for much longer in the Philippines and was the originator of that name and logo was irrelevant under U.S. law’s first-to-file priority system.
Latest on Ramar International vs. San Miguel Pure Foods over Magnolia Mark (2015)
Magnolia is a Philippine ice-cream brand whose origins clearly go back to the 1920s. It has belonged to the San Miguel company for most of its history.
In the 1970s, a totally unaffiliated Filipino American family in Northern California started marking their own ice-cream products with the “Magnolia” name in order to surf on the goodwill that the original Magnolia had developed among Filipinos from the old country. (This is an assertion voiced by U.S. federal judge Richard Clifton himself during oral arguments in case 13-55537.)
The Filipino American family Quesada, operating as the Ramar company, filed a trademark application claiming the Magnolia mark for their exclusive use in the United States. The law in the U.S. allowed for Ramar to get away with this.
To this day, many Filipino Americans assume that the Magnolia ice-cream they eat in the United States is related to the Magnolia in the Philippines. It is not.
The U.S. brand name and company logo are strikingly similar to the homeland’s original, but it is California’s Ramar Foods International, and not the Philippines’ San Miguel, that’s profiting. Ramar’s rationale behind the appropriation is that San Miguel “did not have the vision to know they could sell to Filipinos here.” In effect, brand-name piracy is considered smart business sense in the United States. It may be unethical, but it’s legal.
In 2005, the Wall Street Journal focused on this particular brand-name piracy issue, in which companies in the United States appropriate trademarks from foreign companies. The article noted that the trend was buoyed by U.S. immigrants who favor buying the traditional brands they cherished in their home countries. Not surprisingly, these consumers are quick to assume that a product in the U.S. with a name from home is the product they grew up with. In this case, it is not.
There have been many legal cases involving Ramar vs. Magnolia, including Ramar’s recent efforts to prevent San Miguel from selling Magnolia butter, margarine, and cheese in the United States.
Outside the courts, in the arena of public opinion, Ramar has been actively supported and promoted by Filipino American food bloggers who have received sponsorship from the company.
San Miguel’s victimization is recognized by Philippine-born Filipinos who grew up eating the original Magnolia in the Philippines and who have regularly witnessed many facets of their heritage being appropriated by outside forces. They do not need to paid money in order to recognize the inequity in the situation.
2015 News Articles
OMGpeke Movement registered as a corporation by OMGpeke Company Rep
Business Inquirer: San Miguel wins ‘Magnolia’ trademark dispute in U.S.
PhilStar: San Miguel secures Magnolia brand use in US
GMA Network: San Miguel wins trademark case in US
Note that the trademark case victory mentioned in these 2015 articles refers to the Butter, Margarine & Cheese (BMC) issue. San Miguel is still prohibited by U.S. law from selling its Philippine-made Magnolia Ice Cream (IC) in the United States. The “Magnolia” product you see in the freezer section of stores in the U.S. and Canada is likely the OMGpeke version made by Ramar Foods.
Phil-Am Food of Jersey City Sued for One Million Dollars
Lawsuit filed in New Jersey by wholesaler Phil-Am Trading against grocery store Phil-Am Food Merchandising for trademark infringement and consumer fraud: Phil-Am Trading vs. Phil-Am Food pertains to Phil-Am Food allegedly passing itself off as a Phil-Am wholesale company. The suit states it is a violation of legally agreed-to covenants that Phil-Am Food is engaging in wholesale businesses under the Phil-Am name. Phil-Am Food is accused of reneging on lawyer-mediated settlement agreements, and that is what compelled Phil-Am Trading to file a formal lawsuit in federal court to get Phil-Am Food to adhere to the terms of the settlement(s).
Resulting settlement: Phil Am Food changes name to Filstop
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SEPARATE LAWSUIT (2 of 3)
Essex County Courthouse, New Jersey: Lawsuit filed against Erwin Santos of Phil-Am Merchandising (PhilAm Food)
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SEPARATE LAWSUIT (3 of 3)
JUSTIA.COM: LAGASPI v. PHIL-AM MERCHANDISING
Nature of Suit: Labor: Fair Standards
Cause of Action: 29:201 Fair Labor Standards Act
Dried Mangoes: Jollibites
The Truth About The Filipino Food Movement
Philippine Snacks Every Filipino Child Had in Bag: Filipino Candy
Savor the taste and feel of Filipino home-cooking at Limbaga 77 in Quezon City
Filipino Consumers Love a Good Snack (Nielsen report)
For Filipinos, snacking is viewed primarily as source of nutrition (74%). Consumers in Philippines are looking for fresh snacks which offer health and nutrition benefits, but they’re also looking for an occasional treat. In the past 30 days, Filipino respondents ate a wide variety of snacks, preferring bread/sandwich above others, followed by fresh fruit and chocolate.
