Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, in partnership with the Manila Catering Corporation (MCC) recently launched Alfa Freeze, a line of frozen snacks exclusively available in Alfamart branches.
Alfa Freeze’s pioneer products are Frozen Choco Banana, which consists of saba or a sweet plantain dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with marshmallows; Frozen Ube Banana, which is saba dipped in ube chocolate and pinipig; Frozen Strawberry Banana, which is saba dipped in strawberry chocolate and topped with rainbow sprinkles; and Frozen Cookies and Cream Banana, which is saba dipped in cookies and cream chocolate, speckled with chocolate cookie chunks.
The product was made possible through a collaboration with the MCC, one of the premier caterers in the country. The family-run business, owned by the Baron family, has a 32 year legacy and has catered for thousands of private events and provided food for institutional partners and airport lounges.
According to MCC Operations Manager Jamo Baron, they have been planning to partner with Alfamart since 2019 because they saw how fast the latter was growing. “We stumbled upon Alfamart and noticed that they were very aggressive in terms of expansion,” Baron said. “We saw that as an opportunity and made the decision to try to partner with Alfamart,” he added.
MCC also credited Alfamart as their “saving grace” during the pandemic. The catering industry was one of the most affected by the continued quarantines. “They gave us an opportunity to start a new partnership despite the pandemic and all the lockdowns,” Baron said. “They also gave us a head start to focus on food manufacturing, by giving us the opportunities to develop more products for them and innovating together as a team,” he concluded.
“We are excited for the public to try out our new Alfa Freeze snacks,” said Alfamart Philippines Senior Assistant Vice President, Cecille Sy. “Our maiden foray into house-branded snacks is part of our commitment to provide affordable and quality products for the communities we serve. We hope that this endeavor will prove successful so we can develop more treats to delight our customers,” Sy continued.
Alfamart currently has over 1100 branches, located mostly in Central and Southern Luzon.