I thought the name on the front told the whole story.
I was wrong.
When I visited Melvin at his small processing facility in Catmon, Cebu, he showed me this product on a shelf.
It was being made for a hotel brand.
The hotel's name was right there on the front of the package.
So naturally, I assumed the hotel made it.
Then I turned it over.
In much smaller letters:
"Manufactured by Masterlicious."
That was the name of the manufacturer behind the product.
Not in a hotel kitchen.
Not in a big factory.
In a small processing space where the product is actually made.
Cassava.
Grating.
Steaming.
Frying.
Dehydrating.
Packing.
One step after another.
Melvin told me they first gave the hotel samples.
Then the orders came.
300 packs.
Then he told me this:
"300 packs... 60% have sold and only for 40% came back"
"So maybe next week they will reorder."
What caught my attention wasn't really the number.
It was the package.
The hotel's name is on the front.
The manufacturer is on the back.
And that small line on the back tells you who actually makes what's inside.
Almost three years in the Philippines, and I'm still surprised by how much you can miss by only looking at the front.
Sometimes you have to turn it around.
Still Learning
Still Exploring
Daghang salamat, Melvin🙏
I've seen shelves like that countless times, but honestly, I almost never turn the package around. If the name on the front looked familiar, I usually just took it at face value. I've probably done the same with a lot of people and places here without thinking twice.
Then Melvin turned it over, and "Manufactured by Masterlicious" was sitting there the entire time, in letters too small for anyone in a hurry to notice.
I make the videos and write about what I find out here. But before I can even point a camera at something like this, someone has already done the work — grating, steaming, frying, dehydrating the cassava. Most of that work never makes it onto the label.
The real answer wasn't on the front of the package at all. It was in the small print on the back.
| Date | August 13, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Corazon, Catmon, Cebu |
| Event Type | Private-Label Manufacturing Check-in |
| Access Method | Invited back by a local contact, Melvin |
| Food Featured | Cassava Chips (Private-Label for a Hotel Brand) |
| Cost to Attend | Free (by arrangement) |
| Rarity | 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ — A small but telling detail of local manufacturing |
| Bayanihan Index | 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ — A one-on-one visit, not a communal event |
Whether that gap between the name on the front and the name on the back is true of every hotel shelf here, or just this one, is still something I don't know.