Plantation Prime launches second canning line

CEBU, Philippines —  Plantation Prime has launched its second canning line, as it observed rising demand orders overseas, particularly Middle East and Australia.

Plantation Prime is a boutique manufacturer and canning facility of Filipino comfort food as embodied by the flagship product, Beef Shank Kare-Kare (beef stew in peanut sauce),which opened in the middle of the pandemic.

Today, the all-Cebuano company announced the establishment of its second mini-plant, which is Halal-certified, just in time to fulfill its first export orders bound for Dubai and Australia.

According to the company, the export push is consistent with the slogan saying “Serving the Global Filipino from the Visayan Archipelago”.

The daring concept of Plantation Prime is to translate popular but time-consuming dishes into a canned form that is actually better than restaurant quality — delicious food, already fully-prepared, with none of the mess and bother of restaurant takeout.

The company especially targets Filipinos living abroad, who long for Filipino food but lack the time or cooking skill to make it.

Plantation Prime opened its first canning line in 2020 with initial offerings of Beef Shank Kare-Kare that has drawn raves around the world, and Bicol Express, which many Bicolanos have proclaimed “as good as it gets (but needs more chile!)” (“No,” said chief executive officer Brian Noel.

Noel, who is also the general manager of the Casa Verde Restaurant chain, said Plantation Prime products are also distributed online (Lazada, Shopee, Facebook page), in major supermarkets in Manila and Cebu (Landers, Metro, Marketplace), and by selected retail distributors around the country.

He mentioned that the distinctive cream-white cans and the enthusiastic support of retail magnate Jack Gaisano have helped boost sales.

Plantation Prime also counts as shareholders Hannibal Boiser, a seasoned marketing executive (Procter & Gamble, Jardine, Petron), and Manny González, founder and majority owner of Plantation Bay Resort & Spa.

Plantation Bay was recently included in Travel & Leisure Magazine’s Top 10 Philippine beach resorts, and was the only mainstream (non-boutique) hotel on the list that is Filipino-owned and managed. Plantation Bay’s Executive Chef, Lee Ramas, is a special culinary advisor to Plantation Prime.

Many other superb dishes served at Plantation Bay Resort are finding their way into Plantation Prime cans. Chile con Carne is already a big hit (and also destined for the Middle East market). Tita Bok’s All-Purpose Pasta Sauce will soon appear on supermarket shelves from Dagupan to Dubai, and will be followed by Go-Anywhere Chicken Curry and Vegetable Medley Masala.

Operating under the MB2 Food Products Inc., the company was born at the height of pandemic lockdown in 2020. Aside from Noel, the company is also co-owned by hotelier Manny Gonzalez and. Hannibal Boiser.

The brand began as an idea in 2019 to produce ready-to-eat and long lasting canned Filipino food that are tedious to prepare, initially targeting overseas Filipinos with limited time to prepare meals, and limited choices for ready-to-eat comfort food, a living situation the three owners shared at some point in their lives.