Perhaps one of the best-known souvenir items from the Philippines is the dried mango. Sweet and easy to carry, dried mangoes represent the amiable attitude of Filipinos. One of the most famous brands to offer this product is Cebu Best Mango of the AEO International Food Corp., a family-owned company.
Before dried mangoes became a staple in every Filipino’s and tourist’s bags, Elizabeth Ong and her mother have already been giving them as gifts in glass containers to friends since the 1960s. Their product drew rave reviews, but they did not last very long, and were heavy because of their packaging. Elizabeth then started working on perfecting the recipe, making the dried mangoes easier to carry and extending their shelf life. In 1993, she and her husband Angel launched Cebu Best.
“The current dried mangoes you see today stem from a legacy and is a decades-old tradition. We use a family heritage recipe,” says Vincent Ong, manager at Cebu Best.
Soon after, Cebu Best started offering more products and more variations of their famous dried mangoes. Their best sellers now include the mango cholate, which are dried mangoes dipped in premium dark chocolate, mango chocolate coins, the pineapple chocolate and the calamansi caramel chocolate coin.
“Cebu Best Mango Chocolate was created to elevate the classic Dried Mango. Cebu Best was the first to launch the chocolate-dipped dried mango in 2011 and it became an instant hit. It was even served and gifted to Pope Francis when he visited the Philippines in 2015,” Vince shares.
Cebu Best has long been a partner of SM, and in 2012, they entered into a partnership with Kultura. This, Vincent says, has allowed them to reach wider markets.
“Needless to say, Kultura and SM have been instrumental in our growth as it is the one-stop shop for all things. SM is always top-of-mind for having ‘it all for you,’ and Kultura is a proud carrier of our Filipino heritage,” Vince says.
Cebu Best’s dried mangoes and other products are available at Kultura located in SM Malls. You may also order Cebu Best products and other uniquely Filipino items at www.kulturafilipino.com.
For more than 60 years, SM, and its affiliate brands like Kultura, has been home to thousands of MSMEs. As SM grew, so did its MSME partners. From those years of partnership, SM and MSMEs once again stand together to build back stronger.
[Additional photos from Cebu Best Mango]
For more info, visit https://www.smsupermalls.com.
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