The study is conducted to test the hypothesis, the acceptability of aratiles fruit as the main ingredient in the production of ice cream.
The study is conducted years 2018 - 2019 by four alumni of STI College Bacoor, namely Richard Lapinao, Ruth Anne Portacio, Marrineth Phi, and John Gregory Silva as part of their entrepreneurial and project management subjects. The research aims to find the link between acceptability, marketability, and sustainability of the product [aratiles] Manzanitas Ice cream.The Need
Aratiles is a fruit that can be found anywhere in the Philippines it can also be called Jamaican Cherry for English term, Mansanitas in Cebuano, and Boholano; Seresa in Ilocano but it is scientifically called 'Muntingia Calabura L.' The fruit is red in color when ripe and bearing almost all year round excluding rainy season. Aratiles is said to be brought from South America of the Spanish galleons during the Spanish colonial period, it can also be found in some areas of the world like Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico and Brazil but despite its widespread species, the fruit is greatly ignored by the people in the Philippines. Nowadays, its fruit is un-harvested and just falling in the ground and left to rot.
The new generation, especially in areas of Cavite were in construction for the business and establishment is booming the aratiles is ignored unlike before. According to the article, 'A Slice of Sweet Childhood memories' Baral, L. (2012). The aratiles fruit has a big part of their generation, she described the fruit as “witness to our sweet childhood memories” she also states that at her younger age some of her playmates climb the tree and throw rocks to the branches canopy to bring the fruit down and they usually eat it raw.
Aratiles is not just a tree but a witness to the sweet childhood of many [older generation] Filipinos. Through that, and for the benefit of today’s generation the researcher wanted to learn more about the aratiles fruit, use it as the main ingredient in the production of ice cream. The creation was called 'Manzanitas Ice Cream.' In the Philippines, ice cream product has huge demand. According to Statista (2018), the Philippines revenue for the Ice cream segment is $282 million in the year 2018 and is projected to continually grow by the year 2021 to $332 million. With that huge demand, the proponents wanted to use the opportunity to formulate ice cream with the help of food technologies and study the acceptability of the product to the market.
Conclusion
The thesis project entitled Acceptability of Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia Calabura L.) as the Main Ingredient in the Production of Ice Cream. The goal of the study is to know if the aratiles fruit as ingredients in ice cream is acceptable in the market. Having that, all data are gathered to test the claim of the study. The variables include demographic profile, influencing factors, attributes: physical, environmental, and the 4P’s of the marketing mix. These are all clearly expressed to satisfy the questions stated in SOP and to enable the proponent to properly attain a good interpretation of the study.
The study involved professionals in their field [Nutritionist, Food Technologist, Business owners, Accountant, Statistician] to critic, validate, interpret, and evaluate collected data to get the best results possible. Some tests are conducted including microbial tests, nutritional contents, product shelf life, and product formulations. Business aspect like marketing, operational, financial, and production are also included. The researcher used the Slovin formula to gather 400 respondents using a self-made survey questionnaire. Variables have been plotted and organized accordingly.
The results indicate that the fruit aratiles are acceptable as the main ingredient in the production of ice cream to the respondent. Studies have shown that many young people in Bacoor Cavite are familiar with aratiles fruit to include, results found that younger female is more price-sensitive they buy a cheaper product compared to the male respondents. Packaging and promotion got a higher score compared to other marketing parameters which means they play a big role in the acceptance of the new product being introduced to the market. The result of the study is acceptable and marketable yet not recommended for mass production due to the unstable supply of aratiles fruit which is the main raw material.
Recommendation
Future researchers of this topic and related topics should find the link between business models sustainability, farming of aratiles, and its socio-economic aspect. Aratiles has more to uncover in terms of business feasibility.
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