My first phone conversation with Christy from Cheeri Cheeri was at the parking lot of Domino’s as my children really wanted to have some pizza that day. A bright sunny day on a Saturday, pizza wafting in the air, while chatting about her vegan ice cream inspired by family, stories, and cultural values is a remarkably beautiful plot setting to my conversation with Christy. (Think setting that has = family + food + stories and lots of LOVE)
It was very clear to me that Christy has so much love for her family. That the medium for which their family expresses their love for one another is through the act of story telling.
We absolutely love that everything she does weaves a story. Her logo is a story of the landscape of her grandparents’ hometown in Pampanga, Philippines. From there, it becomes a backdrop of her dedication to use her business to tell the world of the stories that her family told her as she was growing up.
One story that she shared that I enjoyed the most is her story of her mother strongly encouraging her family members to go vegan.
“My family is hit with the common illnesses you find in the Pilipinx community; diabetes, high cholesterol, etc but cancer was something new for our family. After learning our family member had cancer, my mom decided it was best for us to go plant-based, and our whole family supported and followed suit for about a year. This was the same time I was making ice cream with traditional ingredients like milk and eggs, so it was important for me to have the ice cream recipe reflect the needs and values of our family…because more likely than not we are not the only ones experiencing this.”
Christy is insistent that Cheeri Cheeri’s flavours are authentic to her individual experience and mindful of others’ experience with Pilipinx roots. And that’s a tough goal to achieve. She ensures authenticity by bringing her family and friends of different generations together and have ice cream with the point of answering the main question, “when you have this ice cream, does it bring you back to the time you had this ice cream/dish in the past?” If you haven’t watched Ratatouille, the cute little rat chef, then you are truly missing out, but if you have, awesome! You know that you have it when the flavours and tastes bring you back to a memory. Christy meticulously perfects each flavor she offers with her mom, they both work together perfecting the secret recipe to Cheeri Cheeri’s signature flavors:
- Mangga at Sago – Mango with coconut milk and mini tapioca pearls.
- Abukado – Avocado
- Buko Pandan – Young Coconut with an aromatic screw pine leaf.
- Ginataan Munggo – Mung bean simmered in coconut milk
- Ginataan Maiz -Corn simmered in coconut milk
- Ginataan Bayabas – Guava simmered in coconut milk
- Calamansi – Philippines citrus
- Putobumbong – Forbidden purple rice treat seen during Christmas
Which flavour are you most excited to try?
Cheeri-Cheeri is currently pop-up exclusive, and let me tell you, the amount of LOVE she gets from people is amazing. The vegan ice-cream company is looking to make waves in the wedding industry, and we are making that happen for them! If you are looking for a fun & sustainable ice cream to work with and have on your wedding day, contact us at [email protected] and join in the movement!
