His chips were already being sold.
He still didn’t think they were finished.
I met Melvin in Corazon, Catmon.
Melvin already had a grant.
His products were already reaching hotels, resorts.
He had already turned cassava into a real business.
And yet, when he picked up his kamote chips, he looked at me and said:
“That's not perfect… for me.”
So he let me try them.
One version had sugar.
The other didn’t.
I told him the flavor felt a little too strong for me.
“If it gets thinner, it's better for me”
Then he asked me:
“Then it will be more crispy?”
“More crispy, yeah”
That small conversation stayed with me.
Because I realized he wasn't showing me a finished product.
He was still figuring it out.
Almost 3 years in the Philippines, and I'm still learning that food stories aren't always about discovering something new.
Sometimes they're about watching someone refuse to settle for what already works.
Still Learning.
Still Exploring.
One local story at a time.
Daghang salamat, Melvin🙏
He showed me two versions, one with sugar and one without, and waited for my answer. Then he asked what would make it thinner, what would make it crispier. The grant and the hotel shelf hadn't closed the file on this one — it was still being decided, batch by batch.
The real discovery wasn't in the chips at all — it was in watching a business owner who'd already succeeded with one product still ask for feedback on a newer batch he was still refining.
| Date | July 19, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Corazon, Catmon, Cebu |
| Event Type | Product Tasting & Field Interview |
| Access Method | Invited by a local contact (Melvin) |
| Food Featured | Kamote Chips — alongside his established Cassava Chip line, already sold in local hotels |
| Cost to Attend | Free (by arrangement) |
| Rarity | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ — Small-batch, still being refined |
| Bayanihan Index | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ — One-on-one collaboration, informal feedback exchange |
Whether that's just how Melvin runs things, or something else I'll keep noticing the longer I stay in Catmon, I still don't know.