As always when there’s something new, foodies are abuzz. The latest toast is an exciting concept of ready-to-eat experience.
It’s called grazing.
Grazing is more of a pimped up version of charcuterie board most often consisting of a variety of meats, cheeses and fruits or nuts. Essentially it is a meat and cheese board.
Malagos Food Inc. is leveling up the experience with Malagos Farmhouse Grazing Box, a ready-to-eat cheese arrangement, featuring the best of what Malagos Farmhouse has to offer, cheese!
In Malagos Farmhouse’s boxes, cheese is king!
Who doesn’t love cheese?
Come on, it is the reason why we break diets, grill and eat bread, bake macaroni, fry cheese sticks, bake soft and fluffy cheesecake, etc.
Olive Puentespina, managing director and cheesemaker of Malagos Food, Inc., said the company carefully curate the cheese selection so that the different families of cheeses are present so that everyone can find a variant that they like. Malagos Farmhouse produces 30 different types of cheese or any combination of which can be found in different platters.
The box looks like an overflowing harvest of delicacies that all look so yummy you don’t know what to try first because Malagos also include fresh and dried fruit, cold cuts, and its own jams and preserves made from local produce harvested during their peak season to complement the cheeses.
This eclectic idea of serving cheeses has been going on even pre-Covid-19 pandemic wherein Malagos will hold in-house tasting sessions in its flagship store, The Leon’s Lounge, in Puentespina Gardens in Agdao.
In these events, clients would come and enjoy the full spread of cheeses, paired with fresh fruit, fresh salad and jams, with their friends and family.
“We would also get questions on how people can enjoy the tastings from their homes,” Puentespina said.
So in 2018, the grazing boxes started as cheese platters that people could order and enjoy from the comfort of their own homes. At this point, the platters were based on the client and the number of their guests.
Yet, Covid-19 has upended the day-to-day lives including businesses, which are hardly hit by the pandemic.
“Come pandemic, we noticed that since people were not having big gatherings, the need for the big cheese platters has changed,” Puentespina said.
Against the backdrop of a pandemic that has changed the course of daily life, Malagos embraced the unexpected in a creative way by standardizing the platters to fit their clients’ needs.
Malagos is now offering three types of ready-to-eat arrangements, the Duo Platter (good for 2), the Standard Platter (good for 4-6) and the Grazing Box (good for 8-10).
There’s also the Farmhouse Tasting Kits so that clients can recreate the tasting sessions that they used to enjoy in Leon’s Lounge. There’s small (good for 10 to 12 people) and large (for 12 to 15 people) cheese boards available for larger gatherings.
The platters can be used also as gift ideas for parties or gift to family and friends.
“A quick search on Facebook and Instagram will show many local entrepreneurs making their own grazing boxes. What sets us apart from them is that we use our own local artisan cheeses, made here in Davao City,” Puentespina said.
The company also put great emphasis on ensuring that the products are made as sanitized as possible.
The company’s processing plant is Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles are strictly implemented in our production area.
“We do not compromise on the safety and quality of our products. Like what we like to say, eat healthy, eat natural, support local. Also, the bulk of our boxes are the cheeses themselves,” Puentespina said.
Malagos Farmhouse also customizes it based on your favorite cheeses.
