Selecta Mellorine

Selecta brand of Filipino ice cream
 

What is Mellorine?

It’s the non-dairy version of ice cream that Filipinos grew up with in the Philippines.

Instead of having cow’s milk as the primary ingredient — it’s a mix of oils.

Pretentious Americans look down on mellorine and call it “imitation ice cream.”

But the truth of the matter is that more than half of the Philippine population are lactose-intolerant so their stomachs cannot digest the “real milk” in what Americans consider “real” ice cream. In fact, Filipinos get stomachaches after drinking “real California milk.”

Add to that, the Philippines is a tropical country where dairy cows would die in the intense heat, so there is not much of a local milk industry. Most milk and cheeses have to be imported, like from New Zealand.

There is a “native” version of ice cream made from carabao (local buffalo) milk and goat’s milk, but these are not produced large-scale commercially.

Of course now, Americans are waking up to the existence of lactose intolerance. So they are now looking for non-dairy versions of ice cream, and mellorine is one of the alternatives out there. And Selecta is a brand that has been mentioned by those in the know. Do note however that just because something is called mellorine, it doesn’t mean it’s entirely dairy-free. It just means there is not enough milk in there to be considered ice cream by U.S. standards.
 

Flavors of Selecta Ice Cream

Legally speaking in the United States, the Philippine brand Selecta cannot refer to or label their product as “ice cream” because of the lesser dairy content. They do call it mellorine.

Philippine Selecta Flavors available in the United States:

• buco pandan (young coconut and screwpine)
• buko salad
• halo-halo (mixed fruits)
• macapuno (“mutant” coconut)
• mango
• mango cashew
• queso real
• ube-macapuno
• ube keso (purple yam and cheese)
• ube royale

Often available in 1.5-liter tubs.

The Number 1 Ice-Cream ng Bayan

Christmas Collection: Buko Pandan Espesyal, Choco Hazelnut Crinkles, Ube Salted Egg with Cheese

In the Philippines, the favored Selecta ice-cream flavors are:

• Pistachio & Cashew
• Butterscotch Salted Caramel
• Strawberries & Cream
• Black Forest
• Coffee Crumble
• Mango Sans Rival
• Cookies & Cream
• Double Dutch
• Rocky Road

Selecta does not sell these bestselling Philippine favorites in the United States.

Also note…

The “Magnolia Ice Cream” being sold in North America — despite the familiar oval Magnolia logo — has NOTHING to do with the Magnolia Ice Cream produced by San Miguel in the Philippines. It is made by a California company that pirated the logo from San Miguel. It’s a huge issue that’s been called the OMGpeke scandal.

That is why Magnolia Philippines’ AlDub flavors are not available in the United States and Canada.

Magnolia Ice Cream USA has “Real California Milk” on the label. (Imagine the tone-deafness of selling “real milk” to Asian Americans who are half likely to be lactose-intolerant.) More importantly, Magnolia Ice Cream USA does NOT have the mark of San Miguel anywhere on the label.

San Miguel is selling its ice cream in North America as “San Miguel Gold Label Best of the Philippines” (SM GL BOTP).

 
Tangkilikin po natin ang sariling atin. Choose San Miguel and Selecta in the United States. Huwag bumili ng OMGpeke Magnolia USA na walang kaugnayan sa Pilipinas. Nakikisakay lang ang kumpanyang ‘yan sa popularidad na pinaghirapan ng mga tunay na Pilipino. At nang-uuto sa mga walang kamuang-muang na OFWs na sabik na mabalikan ang lasa ng Magnolia ng Pilipinas. (Madi-disappoint kayo kasi iba ang lasa!)

Lalo na po ang mga AlDub fans sa Tate na nag-aakala na sinusuportahan nila sina MaiChard. Nakikisakay lang po ang OMGpeke Magnolia USA sa pagnanasa ninyong magbigay ng suporta sa mga sponsors nina Maine at Alden.

Check the label. Kung walang San Miguel, hindi iyan ang tunay na Magnolia.