Mama’s cooking

Gloria Siebel laughs when she talks about her Sri-Lankan husband, Errol, going regularly to a Filipino store in Melbourne, Australia. "He enjoys eating my java rice and barbecues. The week wouldn’t be complete for him without a Filipino dish on the dinner table, even if it’s just the two of us having dinner most of the time."

At the other side of the world, Susan Belen does a lot of entertaining during weekends in Rome, Italy. "I work as a baby sitter while my husband, Vic, works as a gardener. We get together with fellow Filipinos during the weekends where I serve caldereta and sinigang."

A major factor in the cooking prowess of both Siebel and Belen is their access to sauces and mixes under the Mama Sita brand.

Overseas market

The Mama Sita line is produced by Marigold Commodities Corp., which was initially geared towards the overseas Filipino market.

Inspired by the comment of her mother that Filipino children raised abroad were becoming unfamiliar with Filipino food, architect Clara Kalayaan Reyes-Lapus and her husband, Bartolome Lapus, borrowed P30,000 from relatives to produce convenience food.

The recipes used have been in the Reyes family for generations, starting with Engracia Reyes, who started the Aristocrat restaurant chain.

MCC began to export to the United States in 1981 and, through the years, penetrated other countries with huge OFW communities such as the Middle East and Europe.

In more recent years, MCC has turned to the local market, eyeing working mothers who have neither the time to source the raw ingredients nor the patience needed to cook Filipino dishes.

Organic

MCC currently has 180 employees operating from two factories.

"We are in the business to nurture life, not shorten it by using chemicals. That is the mantra that flows in all aspects of our production," said corporate service specialist Ramon Reyes. "We use only natural, preservative-free ingredients such as achuete (annatto) instead of food coloring. Tamarind, guava, and chili peppers or siling labuyo are grown organically."

Another plus factor is the adaptability of the Mama Sita line to other cuisines.

"I’d like to see the day when Mama Sita’s barbecue marinade is the preferred marinade in Munich’s Oktoberfest, in Texas rodeos, in California cookouts," said.

MCC has already made inroads in its ultimate dream of having its products in household shelves worldwide. The Gloria Siebels, Susan Belens and their kind have seen to that.