Selecta is a Filipino

dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are Food product, food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, dairy goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include commo ...

brand owned by

RFM Corporation RFM Corporation () is a publicly listed food and beverage company in the Philippines. RFM is a manufacturer of flour and flour-based products, milk, juice drinks and ice cream. As of June 2013, RFM had an asset base of P12 billion and a to ...

(). Its

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

business is operated by RFM Corporation, while its

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

business is operated under a joint-venture with Unilever Philippines, Inc. (known as Unilever RFM Ice Cream, Inc.), and serves as the Philippine branch of Unilever's

Heartbrand This is a list of brands owned by the British multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Unilever's billion euro brands These brands have annual sales of one billion euros or more: * Axe/Lynx *Dove *Omo/Persil * Heartbrand (Wall's) ice ...

line of ice cream.

History

The brand's beginnings can be traced back to 1933 when Ramón Arce started

pasteurizing Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Th ...

carabao The carabao ( es, Carabao; tgl, Kalabaw; ceb, Kabaw; ilo, Nuang) is a domestic swamp-type water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis'') native to the Philippines. Carabaos were introduced to Guam from the Spanish Philippines in the 17th century. They ...

near his home in Novaliches (then a part of

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...

), where carabaos were in abundance. Arce would establish his first dairy plant in 1935. Unilever RFM Ice Cream, Inc. would cite the brand's foundation year as 1948. Arce began selling and distributing fresh milk in bottles using the Selecta brand name to residences, restaurants and offices. Soon after, Arce and his wife, Carmen, would come up with their own ice cream recipe made from carabao milk. These products became the foundation of the family's Selecta business, which later included the Selecta restaurants and bakery. The Selecta business was continued by Arce's children after his retirement in 1950. It would establish its Balintawak dairy plant in 1952. By the 1970s, Selecta's carabao milk based ice cream and fresh milk became available in supermarkets. Its milk was packaged in glass bottles while its ice cream was packaged in gold colored tin containers. In January 1990,

acquired the Selecta trademark from Arcecon Dairy Products, Inc. (successor-in-interest to the Selecta business) and established Selecta Dairy Products, Inc. to take over the production of Selecta ice cream. Under RFM ownership, the recipe of Selecta ice cream was improved and aggressively marketed, posing a serious challenge to then market leader,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

. With its success, its ice cream recipe would eventually shift to cow's milk. Much later, the gold colored tin containers would be changed to gold colored plastic tubs. RFM also introduced its own Selecta milk products which were made from cow's milk. In January 1995, the family of Mauro Arce, the youngest son of Ramón and Carmen Arce, revived the Arce family's ice cream business under a new name, Arce Dairy. Its ice cream would continue to be made from the former Selecta Balintawak dairy plant using carabao milk and packaged in gold colored tin containers, reminiscent of the original Arce-era Selecta ice cream. In February 1999, RFM entered into a joint-venture with Unilever Philippines, Inc. to take over the production and marketing of the Selecta ice cream business. For this purpose, Selecta Walls, Inc. was established (now known as Unilever RFM Ice Cream, Inc.). The Selecta milk business continues to be operated directly by RFM Corporation.

References

External links

RFM Corporation

Unilever-RFM Ice Cream, Inc.

Arce Dairy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selecta (Dairy Products) Ice cream brands Unilever brands Products introduced in 1933 Food brands of the Philippines