Protecting A Delicious Legacy: Mama V Delicious and the Importance of Brand Registration

April 22, 2020

Nowadays, ordering online can be done right from the palm of our hands. Social media and online food delivery services have made it so that food cravings can be solved with a few clicks. While this has made it much easier for customers, it has created a new and challenging field for food businesses.

Food businesses, whether they be franchises or home-grown companies, now have thousands of competitors. People are able to compare prices and search for reviews so easily, that making one's mark in the industry can be hard. Difficult as that may be, "Mama V Delicious", stands out from the crowd.

Mama V Delicious, owned by Ms. Tina V, daughter to Lucita Campos Vitas, the person behind the name Mama V, is a home-grown online food delivery company with more than sixty years of history behind its recipes. In an interview with Ms. Tina V, her mother already owns a successful brick and mortar food establishment called "Mama V Restaurant." Since they have confidence in their brand (and rightfully so!) and the food they serve, Ms. Tina V decided to start a new brand called Mama V Delicious specifically for online delivery. She was certain that the deliciousness of their food, combined with a catchy name, would find its appreciative audience.

As part of the country's growing MSMEs, Ms. Tina V says that the food industry they are in has been very exciting and unpredictable. Developing the right taste profile (Filipinos love to eat and like variety in their meals), finding good price points (that ensure quality and value for money) and putting together a reliable team are some of the many challenges that they face. They also have to come up with the right marketing strategies and collaterals to maximize ad spend.

With so much to do behind the scenes, Ms. Tina V says that registering their brand has been utmost beneficial to building their business. According to her, the decision to register their brand at the outset not only offers the exclusive right to use the brand name that they intend to grow properly, but also gives them peace of mind in that what they are building and enriching over time is duly protected by the intellectual property law. 

However, the decision to register their brand as a trademark comes from an unfortunate experience: "Many years ago, we went through a harsh learning experience when we used a brand name for almost a year and later  found out that a big company copied our name.", Ms. Tina V says of her past business venture. They were not able to do anything as that company had registered the name first. 

Fortunately for Ms. Tina V and her family working together behind the Mama V brand, they are now back stronger than ever. Their best-selling Bacon Carbonara is a hit with their clients--a quick search would reveal rave reviews and mouth-watering pictures of their take on Carbonara's creamy, cheesy goodness. A recipe carefully crafted to suit the Filipino taste.

Registering one's brand is no longer as difficult as it used to be. People can now apply, pay and submit documents online through IPOPHIL's website, www.ipophil.gov.ph. A business owner may opt to file even before they start using their brand provided that once filed, a declaration of actual use must be submitted within 3 years from filing to establish proof of trademark use in the Philippines through local and online markets, otherwise, the mark will be removed from the registry. 

Now that they are a brand name on the rise within the food delivery industry, Ms. Tina V hopes that the family business will continue to grow and expand its reach. According to her, she wishes for their clients to experience what "Delicious food made by [Mama v]" tastes like. Home-made food that showcases a mother's love and a passion for cooking that spans multiple decades: "If you could only hear Mama V’s laughter and jokes, you would have the complete experience.”