Ice cream is a year-round favorite treat but more so in the summer. The sweltering sun complemented by icy-cold gelato is the most glorious of combinations. Though I personally love dulce de leche, rum raisin and butterscotch, nothing could please my palate more than local flavors. It also provides nostalgia and good memories growing up.
Speaking of loving local, let me introduce you to Karabella Dairy. First, a background on its name: Karabella is derived from caraballa, or female carabao in Spanish. Also, in Italian, kara means “beloved” or “dear,” and bella is “beautiful.” To sum it up, Karabella pays tribute to the beauty of the carabao, which is central and essential to this brand.
Behind Karabella Dairy is an energetic trio composed of president and chief financial officer Aflred Ng; Jan Buenaflor, who is corporate secretary and marketing director; and Jan’s son EJ Buenaflor, its master chef plus sales and operations manager.
Karabella started in 2015 as a Social Enterprise Project of the Enchanted Farm in Gawad Kalinga (GK), Bulacan, assigned to Alfred’s daughter Erika, who was working as a social entrepreneur. It was a project to help the carabao farmers in the community earn more by harvesting the animal’s milk, and create a value-added product to the market. It started as a home industry with ice cream produced to cater to the GK Village stores and their social enterprise events. When Erika left GK for other pursuits, Jan and Alfred decided to continue with the business and invited EJ to join the team.
Originally a banker, EJ Buenaflor had an unexpected shift in his career due to Karabella. Now a gelato chef, EJ recalls, “I initially worked in a bank when my mom asked me to join them. I gladly accepted since it has always been my childhood passion to taste and eat different kinds of ice cream. Even in our trips abroad, part of the itinerary is to eat in a nice ice cream place, or a trip to the frozen section of the supermarket. I remember hoarding packs of my favorite ice cream from Japan. My mom always had to pay airline overweight fees so that we could bring ice cream back home.”
EJ studied and trained hard, taking up GelAteneo, a basic course for gelato making, and the more intensive “Creating Your Own Signature Flavors” under the tutelage of chefs Avi Shani, Jacky Go, Azura Othmanand, and Giacomo Shiavon from Gruppo Dolci.
The new team got to work creating more flavors from its original five to 20 selections, expanding their offerings. Then came the pandemic and, like many businesses, they had to “lie low.” However, they productively used the time to prepare documentations and product registrations with the FDA. At present, they have started to expand Karabella’s distribution to supermarket chains.
It’s local all the way for Karabella. The vision of the brand, as per Alfred, is “Karabella Dairy aims to promote the local industry and support its local farmers. The Philippine dairy industry currently relies mostly on imported milk and dairy products. By creating value-added products, we hope to increase the income of our carabao farmers and encourage them to breed and produce more animals. Most of Karabella Dairy’s products are local flavors, sourcing local raw materials as well. Our vision is to be a leading Filipino gelato supplier in the country providing a healthier and more nutritious alternative (since we are using carabao’s milk) to the Filipino consumers, promoting local, and helping our local farmers and entrepreneurs.”
For Jan, it’s “to be recognized as one of the finest and authentic local gelato makers in the country. Our goal is to put a smile on all our customers’ faces through every scoop! As they say, you can' t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream… which is pretty much the same thing.”
So what makes Karabella stand out? Jan passionately explains, “Our gelato is made with 100% carabao's milk, which means there is a more concentrated burst of flavor. It has local and natural ingredients. Our product is silkier and denser because we put more milk. And the most important thing is, it has less than 25% air, so you get only all the real dairy goodness of our gelato. We also get our carabao's milk from a cooperative in Cavite. For the other ingredients, we use locally produced products from other SMEs (small and medium enterprises) because we believe that by supporting them, we help create jobs and strengthen the local economy.”
Apparently, carabao’s milk, which is Karabella’s main ingredient, is healthier than others. Alfred says that “carabao’s milk is thicker and creamier due to its higher fat and protein content, as compared to cow or goat’s milk. It is also more nutritious because it has 58% more calcium, 40% more protein, and 43% less cholesterol.”
Technically, ice cream is airier and has a higher fat content, while gelato is softer and packed with flavor. Gelato is an Italian word for ice cream. The difference is that it has a higher proportion of milk, churned slowly with less air, leaving it denser than ice cream. Gelato’s texture stays silkier and softer. Because it has a lower percentage of fat, the main flavor ingredient really shines through. Furthermore, gelato has fewer calories and less sugar per serving than ice cream. Karabella’s product is gelato, so it is creamier and smoother than regular ice cream.
Even more exciting, Karabella currently has 20 gelato flavors, including seven regular, nine premium, and four “boozy” (alcohol-infused ) ones. These are Pinoy flavors kicked up a notch. My personal favorites are: Salted Egg Caramel, which is the perfect combination of sweet and salty; Ube Halaya using the real deal from a famous local maker; the yummy Turon with Langka with caramelized saba and real langka bits; Kopi-Oh, which has kapeng barako from Batangas; and a taste of childhood, Bazooka Bubblegum.
More crowd pleasers are Tablea Chocolate using 100% dark chocolate; Roasted White Chocolate Cashew, which combines award-winning Auro chocolate and mixed cashew nuts that EJ personally roasts; Sorvete de Manga that is best served with suman and coconut cream, as recommended by the chef; and Dynamite, a mint-flavored gelato perfectly mixed with chocolate bits. Other flavors include Leche Flan, Peanut Butter, Tsa’a Latte, Tequila Cream, Pastillas de Leche, Chocoholic, and Vanilla.
Jan is happy with the response to Karabella’s gelato. “They said that it's a piece of art in their mouth. Some even commented on how they loved the texture. Others have been blown away with our unique flavors. And, there are customers who said that it brought them back to the good old days.” For chef EJ, the positive feedback he receives is simply “music to his ears.”
Gelato has become an all-season goodie, not just in the summer. And the pleasure derived from indulging in it is priceless. In a way, you could say that it is happiness in a cup (or cone).
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Follow @Karabelladairy on IG and Karabella Dairy on FB. Send a DM for orders and inquiries. They also cater to parties and corporate events. They can be reached at 09171905797. You can also visit www.karabella-dairy.com/ to know more about their products. For online orders, go to frozenmnl.com.