Interview with a trailblazer: How Christy Cunanan is using Filipino Ice Cream to fuel a Conversation
Back in 2018, I had the pleasure of sharing space with many Pilipinx faces during my first ever trip to Toronto, Canada to share CHEERI CHEERI’s story at a PHTime Is Now conference. It was my second conference of theirs to attend because of the beautiful community I met and learned from in their first inaugural event in New York 6 months earlier. Trusting that I would meet more amazing Pin@ys, I was not let down.
I met Gelaine Santiago, one of two founders for CAMBIO & Co. Her passion and persistence of love emulates her company. CAMBIO & Co. is an e-commerce fashion company working with Filipino artisans to celebrate Filipino craftsmanship, culture, and heritage. We immediately connected over a shared appreciation for stories.
That day I got to tell about the intimate love from my family, yet I learned from her the importance of the knowledge of our people beyond one’s immediate family.
Many thanks to Gelaine for taking the time to dig deeper into Cheeri Cheeri. This interview captured the strong connection to heritage through people, and also being able to combat thoughts of “am I Pilipinx enough?”
Here is an excerpt <3 Please click below to read the article in its entirety!
-CHRISTY
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Flavor creation is a very personal process. I first ask myself "what are the most cherished memories I have of me and my family together where we were extremely happy"? then I reflect some more and ask "How can that specific dish provide further insight to their story, region, celebrations, or their seasonal specialties?"
When we [Cheeri Cheeri] test a flavor, I have friends and new visitors (from varying generations) give me insight on what their experience was like engaging with the flavor. My team knows that a flavor is ready to launch when we hear validation from many Pilipin@s saying, "This reminds me of home" or "This makes me think of _____".
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Calamansi will always be one that is very special to me because it was the first tangible home-grown produce that my Lolo took the time to explain to me its Pilipin@ quality and its specialness in being able to thrive far away from Philippine soil. He planted the trees in the backyard, so even to this day it (the fruit or the tree itself) is a beautiful reminder that I am sharing my Lolo with others as well as the feelings from that moment with him as a toddler.
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I hope Cheeri Cheeri impacts the food landscape in such a way where the conversation about anything Pilipin@ doesn't just start and end with food. I can't wait for our Pin@y pride to stem from within and THEN have the food be an extension of that self love.
It has been common for me to hear from my peers, "I am a bad Pilipin@. I don't speak the language, I never been to the Philippines, I don't really like or eat too much of our food". I keep thinking about how that perspective could have benefitted from having a growing Pin@y presence growing up or connection with someone like my Lolo or Lola. We definitely want to address with our ice cream that It may be hard to understand for yourself, but please always know that you are always "Pilipin@ enough" (regardless of the qualities just stated beforehand).
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Simply put, I hope for all to know how important and valued they are. As Pin@ys, we sometimes may not feel that or we may feel something valuable is missing. Our family ensured that we loved each other and most of all loved ourselves and our beautiful identity (hyphenated or not). This product was possible because of the love of a family and their culture, and we hope you know that that connection we have as a family is being extended and shared with you all so that you too can take part in the love and support.