STAR Rtn. Paco Magsaysay: The Premium Ice Cream Maker

Rhea Vitto Tabora (RVT): Coming from a very prominent political family, what made you decide to enter entrepreneurship instead of the political ring? Were you not influenced by the paths taken by your grandfather, the late President Ramon Magsaysay, and your father, former Senator Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr.?

Paco Delgado Magsaysay (PDM): When I was born in 1968, my father was not in government at that time. From the ‘70s to the early ‘80s, he was involved in building his cable TV business. I spent the ‘80s and ‘90s in the US, so I was not exposed to politics unlike my father, who grew up as the son of a President, and even lived in Malacañang. Mine was a very different experience growing up. What I did imbibe from my grandfather and father were the values of honesty, integrity and hard work, which have formed the way I have conducted myself personally and professionally. I also learned some business tips from my maternal grandmother, Lola Cita Delgado, wife of my Lolo Paco Delgado, before she passed on in the mid ‘80s.

RVT: What are the important lessons in life you learned from your grandfather and father?

PDM: I did not have the privilege of meeting my “Lolo Monching” – as we call him in the family – since he died in 1958. All I know is the man truly put the needs of the country ahead of any personal gain. He even told all his relatives, even the relatives of his wife, Luz Banzon, who hails from Bataan, not to accept any government position or run for public office. Tita Mila Valenzuela, my father’s sister, recalls celebrating her debut in the ‘50s when they were living in Malacañang. The cost of the party she had was deducted from the paycheck of Lolo Monching. As for my father, he always told me to keep the Magsaysay name clean despite the temptations. That we owed to Lolo Monching. My father, a two-term Senator, impressed upon me that government service is to serve the people. This is what I hope to accomplish in Rotary.

RVT: In your experience, what are the key ingredients to entrepreneurial success?

PDM: I would say a combination of attitude, understanding your strengths and weaknesses – both personal and professional – humility, ability to think outside the box, above average communication skills, hard work, curiosity and grit. There is no one recipe for entrepreneurial success, but the traits I just mentioned are what I have noticed that one would need to succeed as an entrepreneur.

RVT: How did you prepare yourself for your ice cream business?

PDM: I never had any formal training in the culinary arts. I just wanted to learn to bake for my kids, which I did in 2008, just watching YouTube. So, when the idea of making ice cream came along in 2010, I was totally open to it as I already had the skills. Carmen’s Best was launched in February of 2011. Once the business started taking off, I decided to enroll in formal lessons in ice cream manufacturing in 2013, which was the Penn State University’s ice cream course. The rest is history…

RVT: What’s the story behind Carmen’s Best?

PDM: Carmen’s Best came about when the dairy farm my father and his friends owned, was throwing away excess fresh milk that they could not sell. To capitalize on that excess milk, I decided in 2009 to incorporate a company with the SEC called, “Carmen’s Best Dairy Products.” If you notice, the word “ice cream” does not appear in the company name. That’s because I did not know I was eventually going into manufacturing ice cream. Immersing myself in the dairy business, I soon realized ice cream is a dairy product, and was fortunate to have access to fantastic dairy facilities because of our dairy farm. That’s why we got into the ice cream business. The “Carmen” in the Carmen’s Best brand, is for my daughter, whom I named after my maternal grandmother, Cita Chuidian Delgado, the wife of Francisco “Paco” Delgado, former Rotary Club of Manila member and Rotary International luminary.

RVT: What makes Carmen’s Best one of the most recognized local ice cream brands, even at par with some well-known international brands?

PDM: That’s primarily due to the quality of our ice cream. It’s also because our ice cream has a “story”, that the company is named after the daughter of the owner, who stresses that their products will always be worthy of his daughter’s name, and the milk used in making the ice cream comes from the family’s dairy farm in Bay, Laguna. At the end of the day, if people did not approve of our quality, Carmen’s Best would NOT have lasted 10 years.

RVT: How do you come up with such unique ice cream flavors – from the pioneering Madagascar Vanilla and the popular “He’s Not Worth It” to the new line J&M Naughty and Nice Cream?

PDM: Ice cream just seems to bring out the creativity in me! Most of the flavors I come up with are flavors I enjoyed as a child and share with our customers. Serendipitously, they seem to share my tastes. We are also very picky as to what flavors we come out with. They have to be aligned with our brand.

RVT: What are your interests and hobbies? What do you do when you are not at work?

PDM: Since the lockdown last year, I’ve gotten into gardening and outdoor cooking. I started to appreciate other parts of my home, having no choice but to stay put. But I’m still really working most of the time – everything else is just a way to get my mind off work for a short period of time. Before the lockdowns, I would often work six to seven days a week. At least now, I have some other interests.

RVT: Please share something about yourself that your fellow Rotarians might not readily know.

PDM: I had an older brother, named Ramon Magsaysay III, who passed away in 1970, aged three, of cystic fibrosis. Since he had been given my Lolo Monching’s name, I took the name of my maternal grandfather, Francisco “Paco” Delgado.

RVT: What inspired you to join the Rotary Club of Manila? How would you describe your experience with the Club so far?

PDM: I was asked to join Rotary many years ago, but then, I guess, it was not the right time. Life, with its ups and downs, is all about timing, and it seemed to be the right time when Tito Jackie Rodriguez talked to me about joining the club. I was not thinking of joining any club, but he got me to reconsider joining Rotary. After facing cancer and other challenges in life, I felt the time to serve is now. Life is so short, and we don’t know how much time we have left here on earth. Anyway, serving the community has been part of the vision of Carmen’s Best since we started in 2011. We have been supporting the PGH Medical Foundation and the Good Shepherd Foundation for several years. The Rotary experience has been good since I already know most of the members.