Business Day - June 21, 2004

TAKING MONSTER STEPS - tha's what Chadwick Ragas's newest business venture, Ice Monster, is doing to become the next household name. There are already 16 Ice Monster branches around the Metro, 16 of which he owns himself, and eight more are soon to open. It is presently the biggest thing that has swept our sweltering islands in terms of dessert and there's little holding it back from becoming one of the country's most succersful dessert brands.

It's not halo-halo, nor is it saba con hielo. The concept maybe similar, but Ice Monster is not grandma's trademark dessert. The idea for the Ice Monster desserts actually came from abroad, says the young entrepreneur Chadwick. But the hard work that went into it is nothing but Filipino. chadwick and a team of food technologists and consultants grew the idea into one successful reality.

The brains behind Ice Monster is no newbie to entrepreneurship. Just like most third-generation Chinese-Filipinos, he was bred or rather programmed,as he put it, to become an entrepreneur. His first venture was a computer store, which was followed with a spa called Urban Escape.

Ice Monster first opened its doors in February 2003 in San Juan.The second one, a small kiosk in the Greenbelt 3 Food Choices, followed soon after. The idea caught on and, thanks to the almost year-round hot weather, Ice Monster fans couldn't get enough of it. Ice Monster even made an appearance In Boracay during the summer of last year and now it's slowly penetrating the Visayas market with the opening of its branch in Ayala Center Cebu. The reason behind this quick expansion? They want their brand to be known as the original.

But what makes this dessere different, even from those that have tried to copy it? The secret is in the ICE. Ice Monster is the only one in the business that uses this type of ice shaving machine, which produces the fine shaved ice that goes so well with their fresh fruit toppings ranging from the most popular mango to the more exotic red beans.

Currently, Ice Monster has 27 different dessert flavors - mango, strawberry, avocado and choco fudge being the most popular ones. Each quarter, they come out with new flavor and soon, they'll be coming out with flavors of the month. There is something for both the health-conscious and the indulgent (brownie fudge, anyone?). Each dessert costs between 60 and 80 pesos.

My verdict? Very tasty indeed. PAMELA Y. ONG