 | |
| Comfoods | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Food and drink |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | James Huang |
| Headquarters | Comfoods Building, , |
| Products | Instant and ground roasted coffee, chocolate, cookies, crackers |
| Brands |
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Commonwealth Foods, Inc., simply known as Comfoods, is a Philippine food and beverage company based in Makati.
Commonwealth Foods, Inc. (Comfoods) was established in the Philippines in 1951 by James Huang, a Chinese Filipino who was born in Amoy, Fukien, (now Xiamen). Huang established Comfoods with the help of New York-based coffee trader DeWitt Dyckman. In 1952, a factory was established in Makati where coffee was roasted and packaged under the Café Puro and Café Excelente brands. In 1955, the company introduced Café Bueno, the first soluble coffee in the Philippine market. By the late 1950s, Café Puro became the second most popular coffee brand in the country next to Nestlé. Huang also established Philippine Food Industries (Philfoods) in 1953 and Filipinas Biscuit Corporation (Fibisco) in 1959. [1] Both companies were merged with Comfoods in 1968. [2]
Comfoods expanded to British Hong Kong in 1960 with the establishment of a subsidiary and a factory. In August 1962, the company began promoting Café Puro to Singapore and Malaya through a deal with Guthrie & Company. Comfoods would later cease operations in Hong Kong, although the Comfoods subsidiary company still exists. [1]
Comfoods was established as a manufacturer and distributor of packaged roasted coffee under different brands such as Café Puro, Café Excelente, and Café Bueno. [1]
The Ricoa division manufactures chocolate and chocolate-based products such as Ricoa cocoa powder and chocolate syrup, as well as chocolate candy brands, Flat Tops and Curly Tops. [2] The Fibisco division, produces cookies and crackers, including Choco Mallows - a chocolate-coated marshmallow biscuit. [3]
Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, also known as chocolate teacakes, are confections consisting of a biscuit base topped with marshmallow-like filling and then coated in a hard shell of chocolate. They were invented in Denmark in the 19th century and later also produced and distributed by Viau in Montreal as early as 1901. Numerous varieties exist, with regional variations in recipes. Some variants of these confections have previously been known in many countries by names comprising equivalents of the English word negro.
Ovaltine is a brand of milk flavoring product made with malt extract, sugar, and whey. Some flavors also have cocoa. Ovaltine, a registered trademark of Associated British Foods, is made by Wander AG, a subsidiary of Twinings, which acquired the brand from Novartis in 2002, except in the United States, where Nestlé acquired the rights separately from Novartis in the late 2000s.
Pocky is a Japanese sweet snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico food company. Pocky was first sold in 1966, and was invented by Yoshiaki Koma. It consists of coated biscuit sticks. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoeic word pokkiri (ポッキリ), which is supposed to resemble the sound of the snack being cracked.
Milka is a Swiss brand of chocolate confectionery. Originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard, it has been produced in Lörrach, Germany from 1901. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when it started following the steps of its predecessor Kraft Foods Inc., which had taken over the brand in 1990. It is sold in bars and a number of novelty shapes for Easter and Christmas. Products with the Milka brand also include chocolate-covered cookies and biscuits.
Universal Robina Corporation (URC) is a Philippine company based in Quezon City, Philippines. It is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the Philippines.
Wagon Wheels are a sweet snack food sold in the United Kingdom as well as other Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India. They are also sold in Ireland. They consist of two biscuits that form a sandwich with a marshmallow filling, and they are covered with a chocolate-flavoured coating.
Guylian is a Belgian chocolate brand and manufacturer best known for its seashell shaped pralines. The company was founded in 1958 in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium by Guy Foubert and is now owned by the South Korean company Lotte Confectionery.
Eight O'Clock Coffee is an American brand of coffee products currently manufactured by the Eight O'Clock Coffee Company, of North Bergen, New Jersey, a subsidiary of Tata Coffee, which is headquartered in Mumbai, India; its coffee production plant is in Landover, Maryland. Tata Global Beverages has owned Eight O'Clock Coffee since 2006.
Grupo Nutresa, formerly Grupo Nacional de Chocolates S.A.(in English: Chocolate National Group S.A.) is a food-processing conglomerate headquartered in Medellín, Colombia.
Sugus is a brand of chewy candy manufactured by the Wrigley Company. It was created in 1931 by the Swiss chocolate company Suchard, which was later acquired by Kraft Foods in 1990. Wrigley acquired the candy business of Kraft Foods including the Sugus brand in 2004.
Highlands Coffee is a Vietnamese coffee shop chain and producer and distributor of coffee products, established in Hanoi by Vietnamese American David Thai in 1998. The establishment of the Highlands Coffee company marked the first time an overseas Vietnamese was able to register a private company within Vietnam. As of 2018, the company operates 230 coffee shops across Vietnam. In 2011, Highlands Coffee purchased the pho chain Phở 24 from Lý Quí Trung for an estimated US$20 million. The next year, Highlands sold 50% of its shares to the Philippine multinational chain Jollibee for US$25 million.
The Republic Biscuit Corporation, doing business as Rebisco and also known as the Rebisco Group of Companies, is a Philippine privately held multinational snack food company headquartered in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It was founded in 1963 by Jacinto L. Ng, Sr.
Monde Nissin Corporation is a Philippine food and beverage company with a portfolio of brands across instant noodles, biscuits, baked goods, culinary aids and alternative meat products categories, including Lucky Me!, SkyFlakes, Fita, M.Y. San Grahams and Nissin. Monde Nissin also sells its alternative meat products globally under Quorn Foods and the Quorn brand.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Filipino multinational company based in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. JFC is the owner of the fast food brand Jollibee.
Ceylon Biscuits Limited is a Sri Lankan food manufacturer, the maker of Munchee biscuits and one of the oldest biscuit makers in Sri Lanka. The company owns 60% of the domestic market share in Sri Lanka.
Café Puro is a coffee brand in the Philippines owned by Commonwealth Foods, Inc. The brand was introduced in 1952, along with the company's several coffee brands—Café Bueno, Café Excellente and Lé Café—in ground and instant varieties.
PT Mayora Indah Tbk, also known as the Mayora Group or simply called Mayora, is an Indonesian multinational food and beverage company headquartered in West Jakarta, Jakarta SCR. It was founded on 17 February 1977 by Jogi Hendra Atmadja. The company is recognized as the world's largest coffee candy manufacturer through the Kopiko brand. The company has been listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange since 4 July 1990. PT Unita Branindo holds 32.93% of shares.
The chocolate industry in the Philippines developed after introducing the cocoa tree into Philippine agriculture. The growing of cacao or cocoa boasts a long history stretching from the colonial times. Originating from Mesoamerican forests, cacao was first introduced by the Spanish colonizers four centuries ago. Since then the Philippine cocoa industry has been the primary producer of cocoa beans in Southeast Asia. There are many areas of production of cacao in the Philippines, owing to soil and climate. The chocolate industry is currently on a small to medium scale.