Davao City’s renowned chocolate brand will give flavor to a new AirAsia Philippines in-flight meal – an addition to the carrier’s Asian menu.
On Thursday, April 5, AirAsia Philippines revealed its roasted dalandan chicken with pimiento sauce. While considered a main course, one of the meal’s ingredients is chocolate produced by Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation.
“This will put us into the spotlight, and hopefully more and more potential partners would be looking at us,” said Rex Victor Puentespina, sales and marketing head of the firm behind the Malagos Chocolate brand.
AirAsia Philippines, which tapped Bacolod master chef JP Anglo for the concept, will carry the meal in all of its domestic and international flights beginning April 12.
Dexter Comendador, the carrier’s chief executive officer, said they added the meal to their in-flight Santan menu to bring in social entrepreneurs “who all value a strong, innovative service culture.”
The Puentespina family’s firm was recognized in Paris last year for its cacao beans. While the samples they sent to the International Cocoa Awards did not make it to the top 18, it was still a feat for the family who ventured into cacao farming more than a decade ago.
It also recently hammered a deal with Krispy Kreme for a doughnut product in the region.
The carrier also announced on Thursday its move to sell handwoven products made by social entrepreneurs from Manila, Davao, and Cebu “on all AirAsia flights across 180 destinations.”
These include handwoven items by ANTHILL, which sources its items from direct partners in indigenous communities in the Philippines.