A Filipino sorbetes (ice cream) truck selling mango-flavored ice cream has won two national awards in the Netherlands.
(Luneta Ice Cream Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
Luneta Ice Cream bagged the “2020 Food Truck of the Year” for the Ice Cream category and the “Gold Award for Excellence in Product and Service”.
“We are super happy with your votes, shares, and for the all-out support of everyone all over the world. Your super support and cheers made us winners,” Luneta Ice Cream wrote in a Facebook caption.
The company was launched by Rhea Topacio and Dennis Rogacion in 2015. The couple first started selling their ice cream only to friends and families in the Netherlands.
Today, Luneta Ice Cream is available in 30 selected retailers and restaurants in the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Lithuania.
The food truck’s ice cream is available in different flavors such as ube (purple yam), pandan, kapeng barako (Batangas coffee), mais (corn), mango, and macapuno (coconut sport).
“We are excited to see more of you this year and we are hoping to tour with your favorite Luneta Ice Cream in your country soon,” it added.
The De Nederlandse HORECA (Hotels, Restaurants, and Cafe) Prijzen recognizes the best businesses in the Netherlands through public voting.
Sorbetes, sometimes called “dirty ice cream” in the Philippines, is the country’s traditional variation of ice cream. It is usually served in small wafers, sugar cones, and bread buns.
First Filipino ice cream brand gaining ground in Europe
"The bestseller is still Ube (purple yam), followed by Philippine Mango and classic Rocky Road." Jofelle Tesorio, ABS-CBN News
Jofelle P. Tesorio, ABS-CBN News | Posted at May 08 2019 05:25 PM
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – The first Filipino ice cream in Europe was started in a family kitchen using a portable ice cream maker.
With its distinctively Filipino taste, it became popular in the Netherlands and is already available in Belgium, UK, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden to cater to Filipinos who have longed for the taste of home.
For couple Rhea Topacio and Dennis Rogacion, finding the perfect Filipino ice cream blend was not easy. The line of ice cream began through trials and errors with friends as tasters.
Luneta Ice Cream’s best sellers are ube (purple yam) and Philippine mango. Other flavors include Macapuno (coconut), Kapeng Barako (coffee), Pandan, Rocky Road, Classic Vanilla, Banana, Melon and Lychee, and Pineapple sorbet —flavors that Filipinos grew up with.
“It should be something that reminds every Filipino of what is the Philippines. Pag sinabi mo ang word na iyon, naaalala niya ang Pilipinas. Pag sinabi mo iyong Luneta naaalala mo iyong ice cream. Kahit ano ang nangyayari sa Manila, sa Luneta. Pag Sunday, pupunta kayo ng Luneta. Ganun kami lumaki,” said Topacio of the origin of their ice cream.
(When you say that word, you remember the Philippines and when you say Luneta (Park), you think of the dirty ice cream. Whatever happens in Manila, you always come back to Luneta. Every Sunday, you go to Luneta. That’s how we grew up.)
Topacio’s husband, Dennis, migrated to the Netherlands when he was a teenager to join his father who was working in an airline company. He basically grew up in the Netherlands but had memories of the Luneta Park.
The couple were first introduced to each other online through a common friend in Manila. They started as good friends who gave each other advice. Dennis came to Manila after 16 years of being away to meet Topacio. The rest is history and she came to The Netherlands in 2010 to join him.
Topacio had a flourishing career in Manila as head of marketing of a logistics chain but she was confronted with uncertainties in The Netherlands, especially with limited job opportunities. She decided to take her own chance and build a company to start her small businesses that range from marketing Filipino products and building webpages, to making artisanal chocolates and cupcakes.
Dennis Rogacion and Rhea Topacio, the husband-and-wife team behind Luneta Ice Cream, with their daughter Rheaen. Jofelle Tesorio, ABS-CBN News
Both didn’t have a solid business background but Rogacion was into procurement and knew how to navigate the Dutch system. He underwent training in hotel, restaurant and catering, a requirement to get into the business of selling ice cream, a food product.
They make sure that the Pinoy ice cream is visible in every food festival in The Netherlands to make it more accessible to the public. They also introduced to the Dutch Filipino desserts like halo-halo topped with ice cream.
“We want to promote Filipino cuisine to other nationalities apart from the Filipinos through our product. The Dutch are willing to try new things. This is good for the whole Filipino community because it makes us proud of our heritage,” said Rogacion.
They couple still cook the ingredients themselves and personally deliver the ice cream to clients and distributors. The ice cream is still made artisanal-style and in smaller batches per production to keep the quality.
“So community-based kami talaga. So pati sa pagbebenta, sa stores, more with friendships na patuloy na sumusuporta sa amin so iyon ang pinaka-essence ng Luneta. Wala kaming employees. Talagang partnership with different companies,” said Rhea.
(From selling, in looking for stores, we are helped by friends who have been supporting us. That’s the very essence of Luneta. We don’t have employees. It is just partnership with different companies).
This Pinoy ice cream is slowly making its niche in the competitive ice cream market. It is available in the biggest Asian supermarket chain in the Netherlands and different Filipino distributors. After expanding outside The Netherlands, they want to be present in Middle East and to be available in many countries where Filipinos are scattered and to bring it back where it should have started.
“Iyon iyong pinaka-ultimate dream, na ang Luneta maging available sa Pilipinas. So in a couple of years, we are hoping that we will be there.”
(That’s the ultimate dream, to make Luneta available in the Philippines.)
Our warmest appreciation to all those who enjoyed the day with us at the 2017 Embassy Festival in The Hague.
Watch the event lookback and witness how the people enjoyed our food.
Filipino food any day?
Check out one of our partners, Amor Kitchen in Amsterdam for the best Filipino delicacies, cakes and breads.TIP: Amor kitchen is the best UBE (Purple Yam) Cake baker in Amsterdam.
Recently, Filipino cuisine has been making headlines abroad. Apparently, our local dishes have hit the jackpot among casual diners and foodies. From the well-known adobo to the more complex sinigang, our native dishes and filipino recipes have indeed come so far. Thanks to Filipinos living abroad, they have kept the Filipino spirit alive through cooking. It’s a Pinoy pride thing; it has enabled the enterprising spirit of the Filipinos working and living abroad to share our dishes with foreigners.
What makes our dishes special? No matter how simple or complicated Filipino dishes are, you know that aside from it takes time and effort to prepare these dishes, love is an extra ingredient in preparing them. That’s why the term lutong bahay has always been the word-of-mouth that drove our dishes to the forefront of the culinary world.
That aside, lutong bahay gives that vibe of love, care and deliciousness you only get when food is home cooked. You always look forward to having your meals at home after a long day. These dishes have found its home abroad and they are fast becoming favorites by foreign taste buds too.
Then there’s the dessert. From the simple minatamis na saging to the all-time summer favorite halo-halo, and the most popular purple ube halaya, these desserts are prepared at home. What more if your dessert is an ice cream tailored fit to suit the Filipino taste buds? Pinoy ice cream! I remember my grandfather used to make ice cream for us. And that’s always been a treat! Flavors like ube and mango, or buco pandan, and other local ingredients… that’s what makes it Filipino. That’s what makes it sariling atin. And bringing that culture abroad, that Pinoy pride, is the entrepreneurial spirit of every Filipino.
In The Netherlands, Luneta Ice Cream has been promoting the Filipino culture, that sense of sariling atin, through its ice cream with native flavors like mango, ube, buco pandan, macapuno… truly authentic Filipino ice cream! What makes it truly Pinoy is that it’s personally managed and made by its owners. The right ingredient that makes any Filipino food authentic and real. That kind of claim can only be made by Luneta Ice Cream.
“We have thought of bringing smiles to our fellow Pinoys here. So we ventured into making Pinoy ice cream. Thus was born Luneta Ice Cream. From the basic of ice cream flavors to our new offerings, all of these are borne out of our love and pride for our home country,”
-Rhea Topacio, Luneta Ice Cream’s Managing Partner, says in an interview.
“We want to share this passion with you, to bring that taste of authentic Filipino ice cream,”
– Dennis Rogacion, Luneta Ice Cream’s other partner, interpolates.
“That kind of care and meticulousness that is a throwback to all things Pinoy when it comes to preparing food, that’s what Luneta Ice Cream is all about. We want to inspire the Filipinos here, that they’re not alone in working towards success. We are working on our success. So they can do it too!”
-Dennis adds.
Many Filipinos are trying to find the right combination to succeed, wherever they are; whether it’s work or putting up a business. Some have brought native dishes to commercially share it, some have even found their niche and established their own restaurants and catering services. And they’ve found support among the Filipino communities and the locals there.
Whatever the case may be, with the number of Filipinos working and living abroad, you already have a market for the Filipino dish, be it main course or dessert. Proof that our sariling atin has a place in the global dining table.
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