Posts Tagged ‘hersheys’
Don’t They Have Chocolate In The Philippines?
Of course they have chocolates in the Philippines. In fact if you go to any major supermarket or department store you can buy any of the big name brands you find at home; Hershey’s, Cadbury’s, Nestle and of course Toblerone. In fact they usually cost about the same as what you pay for them at home, especially when you factor in the air fare to get them there! My own sister-in-law flew in from L.A. last year with one entire suitcase full of candy and chocolates, just about all of which she could buy at Gaisano’s Supermarket in the provincial town of Bogo. Forget an SM or Robinson’s in Manila, this is a small Cebu town supermarket!
So why do Filipinas bring so much chocolate with them? Why do their relatives ask them to struggle through the check-in and luggage collection and possible overweight charges just to bring in something they can already buy there? The answer is woven deep into the Filipino psyche and history, it is cultural and involves the very concept of ‘Pasalubong’, or bringing back a present for those who waited patiently at home for your return.
Even if Filipino parents just go to the mall without their kids they feel obligated to bring them something back, a candy or small gift. When traveling abroad it is even more important to bring back something that makes the receiver feel wanted and loved and not forgotten by the traveler while they were away.
While many years ago chocolate was harder to come by and locally made products were inferior to imported brands, the global economy today means that you can get the highly thought of foreign (particularly American) brands at home. The price might be high compared to locally produced candy but it converts to about what you pay for it back home. So why hump it all that way?
It is because the Filipino thinks that unless it has been humped all that way and bought overseas with dollars then it is inferior and not a true pasalubong. When it comes to a Kano using some common senses and buying up chocolates from the local supermarket, make sure they don’t know you didn’t hump them from LAX. Everybody will lose face then and that is not a good way to start your trip.
Be aware that everybody within a 50 mile radius of whoever you are visiting will know you are there, have gifts and will want theirs, even people you have never met. Filipinos feel no shame in asking even perfect strangers for their present, their ‘christmas’.
This will change and no doubt among the more upscale Filipino families it already has. I recall being told how an Uncle returned from 20 years in the USA and brought his three nephews Timex watches. They laughed and told their dear old uncle that not only are Timex watches made in the factory on Mactan Island, one of the three works there and can get the watches at cost!
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