No Carmen, no problem: Carmen’s Best continues to enjoy sweet success

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September 25, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  The Carmen behind Carmen’s Best is now in the United States, and the brand’s founder is no longer part of its management team.

Yet the homegrown ice cream brand continues to enjoy sweet success, thanks to a solid foundation and owners who have a sweet tooth.

“It has grown a lot more than when I was handling it,” Carmen’s Best founder Francisco “Paco” Magsaysay told The STAR in an interview.

“Because with a group like Metro Pacific, their network is quite vast and when it comes to negotiations, their leverage is on a different level and they’re working with bigger companies,” he added.

Carmen’s Best, which started in 2007 from a small farm in Laguna, was named after Paco’s only daughter.

Paco said the “Carmen of Carmen’s Best” studied abroad and is now based in the US.

Through Paco’s resilience and passion to make the best-tasting ice cream, Carmen’s Best developed into a formidable ice cream brand in the Philippines.

In 2022, Metro Pacific Agro Ventures, the agricultural arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Group, acquired a controlling 51 percent stake of Carmen’s Best ice cream and the rest of its dairy group.

Paco said Pangilinan’s sweet tooth and liking for ice cream were perhaps one of the reasons why the business titan decided to pursue Carmen’s Best.

“I remember there was one time I visited him (Pangilinan) and I brought him a new flavor, it was my Kakigori flavor. And I thought he was just going to eat one or two spoons, but when our meeting ended, he finished the whole thing,” he said.

Since the entry of the Metro Pacific Group, Paco said Carmen’s Best sales have increased by more than 100 percent.

“So it’s a different company now. It’s not the same company I started. Even like our kids, they all evolve. They become teens, then they reach their 20s, 30s. Things evolve. Companies evolve. People evolve,” said Paco, the son of former senator Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay

Beyond the Scoop

Paco decided to share lessons in his journey in building up the business in his new book titled “Beyond the Scoop: The Carmen’s Best Story.” He said the book is targeted for aspiring entrepreneurs, people in business and people thinking of getting into business.

In the book, he described selling Carmen’s Best to the MVP Group as both a blessing and a challenge.

“On one hand, it was an opportunity to grow even further, to reach heights that would have been difficult to achieve on our own. It validated everything we had worked so hard to build,“ he said.

On the other hand, he also acknowledged that it wasn’t easy to let go, comparing it to watching one’s child leave home for college.

“You’re proud. You’re excited for what’s ahead. But at the same time, you know things will never quite be the same again,” he said.

In the end, Paco shared that even if he is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the ice cream brand, the way he used to be, he will always be connected to Carmen’s Best.