518. GOYA CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS, Print Ads, 1967-69

GOYA OMNIBUS CHOCOLATE DRINKS, 1968

One of the more popular brands of made-in-the-Philippines chocolate products is GOYA, a joint venture started in 1956 by the enterprising  Chua and Vilabrille families, under the company name GOYA Products, Inc. The first products were actually coffee and cocoa powder mixes.  The cocoa line proved to be more viable, so GOYA expanded to making instant chocolate mixes and chocolate-flavored beverages. Eventually, GOYA would extend its line to include chocolate bars and confections that proved to be successful, favored for its affordable price and chocolatey goodness.

FROM COCOA DRINKS..TO MILK CHOCOLATE TREATS, 1967

This led to Nestlé acquiring the local company in 1996, and was promoted actively through seasonals and regular advertising. Eight years later, in 2006, Petra Foods, a Singaporean food company —now known as Delfi Limited--- bought GOYA from Nestle, which continues to oversee its manufacture and marketing promotions in the Philippines, as well as in other Asian regions.

GOYA has had several relaunches, and is positioned to cater to the medium-end and lower-end brackets. But GOYA also has premium variety, a flanker product that is also part of the portfolio, and still affordably-priced.  

GOYA ALMOND CRUNCH with a Toblerone-type packaging,1969

From the plain cube-sized chocolates, GOYA now produces dark chocolates, dark mint chocolates, white chocolates, almonds dipped in chocolates, crunchy bite-size chocolates and even choco-covered biscuits. GOYA is into spreads, syrups and baking ingredients too—so long as it’s got chocolates.

The chocolate products are manufactured in a 3-hectare plant in Marikina City that has been globally-certified for its quality and taste. The iconic GOYA is now a heritage brand favored, recognized, and much-loved by generations of Filipino chocolate lovers. The GOYA brand continues to endure, providing chocolate enjoyment to Filipinos young and old alike, that is envisioned by Delfi Ltd. to prosper and grow even morem in the years to come.

517. Brand Stories: PAPA CATSUP, Nothing Like the “Father” of All Banana Catsups, 1954

Heroine Maria Orosa, a food scientist,  is credited with inventing the more affordable banana catsup, but it took Magdalo Francisco to develop it into a successful commercial enterprise with his “Mafran” banana catsup brand in 1942. In 1954, another catsup brand was introduced by Neri Papa—PAPA Banana Catsup, under his Papa Food Products Corp.

 PAPA Banana Catsup was developed using a steaming process that conserved vitamins, blended with native spices that included Philippine labuyo. The new condiment became a national favorite for over 2 decades,  eclipsing Mafran and Jufran, moreso when it was promoted as the catsup “chosen to match the famous” MAX’s Fried Chicken”. This was probably one of the early examples of marketing cross-promotion

But by the 1980s, the condiment market had changed dramatically with the rise of major players like the Universal Food Corp. (UFC) that was established in 1960 by the combined forces of the Franciscos and their financiers, Datu-Reyeses (founder of the Datu Puti food business).

One of their flagship brands was UFC Tamis Anghang Banana Catsup, launched in 1969. In early 1980s, Francisco left the company and assigned the PAPA brand and trademark to Hernan Datu Reyes, who registered the mark in 1983 for use on banana catsup, chili sauce, achara, banana chips, and other local products. In 2002, Barrio Fiesta Mfg. Corp. attempted to use the mark “Papa Boy & Device” for its products, but was sued by UFC Corp.

Barrio Fiesta lost but won the case in an appeal. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court which upheld an earlier decision of the Intellectual Property Office, thus finally rejecting Barrio Fiesta’s use of “Papa Boy & Device” for its products.

Eventually, the PAPA brand would be acquired by and assigned major companies in succession: Acres & Acres Food, Inc., Southeast Asia Food, Inc., Heinz-UFC Philippines, Inc.. Today, UFC and all its brands have all been consolidated by the giant food conglomerate , Nutri-Asia.  

Hernan Datu-Reyes established the HDR Foods Corp. with pioneering products under the Mother’s Best brand, including the top-selling Mother's Best Hot Sauce (chili),  Barbecue Marinade, Toyomansi, and Patismansi, all  original Filipino inventions of the owner.  

516. CAMEL CIGARETTES, "The Taste That’s a Legend", 1984 Ads

CAMEL CIGARETTES as a cigarette brand is over a century old, developed by Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds, founder of the company that still bears his name way back in 1913. The cigarettes were originally blended to have a milder taste than other brands. He named his packaged cigarettes ”CAMEL” because its main ingredient was Turkish tobacco.

The widely promoted  cigarettes was advertised with the slogan  "I'd walk a mile for a Camel!", that was so popular, it was used for decades. In the Philippines, Fortune Tobacco Corp., founded by business tycoon Lucio Tan in 1965, and the producer of the hugely successful local brands Champion, Fortune and Hope Cigarettes, expanded their portfolio with the inclusion of foreign brands that included Winston, Salem and CAMEL.

The CAMEL product advertising adapted by the local agency, J. Romero & Associates, were all American-conceived materials. In 1984, the campaign “The Taste That’s a Legend” was launched, using U.S. color print ads that showed up on glossy magazine covers, shown on this page. The ads featured a man going on a solo trip on an Amazon River-like setting, that is bound to be, indeed, a legendary adventure!