Our Heritage
The Puentespina group of companies has been in the agriculture industry for more than five (5) decades.
Our company, Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation, is part of a family-owned group of businesses that have always worked with nature.
This is our family’s love story with nature, which is rooted in deep love and respect for the land. Our founders, Roberto & Charita, bought their first farm in 1963 in Tagakpan, Davao City located in the foothills of Mt Talomo. Here, our founder, Mama Charita cultivated the land and planted a lot of fruit trees, coconut, coffee, & bananas; and operated a small piggery. Thereafter, they expanded their operations and invested in additional farmland.
Charita's love affair with cacao began in 2003 when we leased a farm in Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City. The farm had existing cacao trees.
Her dream for this new venture was to revitalize the cacao sector which had crashed in the 1980's. She also wanted to make her very own premium Philippine chocolate instead of just exporting the cacao beans to institutional accounts.
She'd always say, "We need to step up. We must put more value to our raw material. This way we could employ and empower more people, especially the farmers." This was the beginning of our incredible journey in making chocolate.
From 2003 - 2012, we improved on cacao growing & post-harvest practices. We built our factory (the same one we use today) and further refined our chocolate processes in the latter part of 2009. Charita also saw that in order to grow the industry, she had to garner both private and public support. She had embarked on a campaign to make cacao a priority crop. She was one of those instrumental in seeking the support of ACDI/VOCA, an organization that gives technical assistance to support cacao & coconut sectors in 2010.
Charita already received three (3) awards for her work in the cacao industry: 2017 Outstanding ASEAN Woman Entrepreneur; 2017 Leaders and Achievers of Davao (LEAD) Award; and 2017-2018 Gawad Saka Award Outstanding Agricultural Entrepreneur, Department of Agriculture.
Finally in 2012 after years of rigorous testing and quality checks, we established Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation and started making premium single-origin cocoa liquor. It was a welcome addition to complement our already existing line of fine food products—Malagos Farmhouse Artisan Cheeses.
We commercially launched Philippine-made Malagos Chocolate in June 2013. A single-origin fine flavour chocolate that is truly tree-to-bar.
Our first international award in 2015 was a definitive start for the Philippines on the world’s cacao stage. This and the many awards thereafter have put the spotlight on our cacao.
Our hard work, initiatives, and international awards have borne fruits.
We are truly grateful for the support❣️
Malagos Chocolate is proud to have helped pave the way for Philippine cacao to arrive at where it is now. Mabuhay 🇵🇭 !