Where in the world is Mary Grace Piattos?

Who and where in the world is Mary Grace Piattos, one of the supposed recipients of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds spent in just a few days in December 2022? 

Mary Grace Piattos was one of the signatories on the acknowledgement receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the Commission on Audit, and some members of the House of Representatives have put up a P1-million reward for anyone who can produce this mysterious woman.

Netizens have been quick to join in the hunt by posting funny comments on the Facebook accounts of the two popular Philippine brands. 

On the Facebook page of the Gokongwei family’s Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) Piattos snack brand, netizens asked whether the pretty woman asking the brand’s followers to try a limited edition Piattos Specials Beef Bulgogi flavor was the woman being sought by the House. 

“Maganda pala si Mary Grace (Mary Grace is pretty),” quipped Panes Cesar about the October 22 post. 

“Naks trending! Si Mary Grace ba yan? (Nice, trending! Is that Mary Grace?)” chimed in Sidney Mark Animos. 

On a Piattos Facebook post about two of the brand’s flavors — Piattos Supersized Cheese and Piattos Supersized Sour Cream and Onion — netizens asked where Mary Grace was and pitched a collaboration between Mary Grace Café and Piattos. 

Netizen Eric Cano, in reference to the safehouses that the OVP said it had to use and pay for, asked: “Could I use any of your safehouses sometime soon? BTW, can I call you Mary? I hope I don’t come too direct, but I do have CIF [Confidental Intelligence Fund] as well. 

“Di mo kami maloloko madam (You can’t fool us),” commented Ron dela Cruz. 

A Mary Grace Café Facebook post which says, “If you love chips, may we suggest our Crispy Cassava Chips with our house-made Onion Dip! It’ll make for the perfect snack!” got netizens asking if the collaboration between the two had already happened. 

Rising brand

Whoever signed on the acknowledgement receipt as “Mary Grace Piattos” probably had the two Philippine brands in his or her mind. The reference to Mary Grace [Café] may also reflect an aspiration for the restaurant’s ensaymadas, cheese rolls, and hearty meals, which are rather pricey for the Filipino masses.

Mary Grace Café is a rising Philippine bake shop and restaurant that’s becoming a favorite go-to place for perfectly-baked ensaymadas, cheese rolls, and sumptuous meals.

It was founded by mom entrepreneur Mary Grace Dimacali who loved to bake for her five kids.

“As a mother, she would bake cookies, cupcakes, and pastries. She would bring it to gatherings of  family and friends or share it with her neighbours and fellow mothers in our school. At first, it never crossed her mind to do business because she was so busy raising children,” said her daughter Chiara Dimacali Hugo, marketing Director at Mary Grace Foods Incorporated, in a Rappler article in 2021. [READ: The ensaymada that made Mary Grace Cafe a household name]

“She also dabbled in baking birthday cakes. I remember as a child, all of our birthday cakes were  made and decorated by my mom. She never ordered. It was always homemade and designed by her with flowers or cartoon figures. It was simple and was a labor of love,” Chiara said.

In 1986, Mary Grace took a 12-month baking course in the US to hone her skills. 

“I came home to harness all I had learned to perfect my own formula for a local delicacy, an ensaymada with just the right texture and flavor. After bouts of tears and frustration, countless family taste tests over Sunday lunches, and the seal of approval from them, most especially my parents, I knew I hit Eureka!” she said on the company’s website. 

She joined Christmas bazaars where she sold her homemade ensaymadas and cheese rolls

From a small kiosk in Glorietta mall in Makati City in 2002, Mary Grace now has over 120 stores all over Luzon, mostly in the country’s malls. She put up her first Mary Grace Café in Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City in 2006, and continues to grow.

Snacks market

Piattos, a Filipino-made snack, is one of the sub-brands of the Gokongwei family’s megabrand Jack ‘n Jill.

URC, the Philippines’ leading branded snack food and beverage company, was set up in 1966 by the late Filipino industrialist John Gokongwei. He pioneered in the snacks business by putting up the Jack ’n Jill brand. He traveled around the world visiting companies that made potato chips and other food products and was fascinated by the machines that made these items. 

His early snack brands were Chiz Curls, Chippy, and Potato Chips (including V Cut), but has since grown to include Piattos, Granny Goose Tortillos, Granny Goose Krrrrunch, Mang Juan, Mr. Chips, Nova, Nova Greens, Pic-A, Roller Coaster, and Tostillas. 

Piattos is unlike other chips due to its hexagonal shape and variants such as Roast Beef and Roadhouse Barbeque. 

URC had a 34.5% market share of the Philippines’ snacks market, according to URC’s latest earnings report disclosed on November 12.

Piattos won the Digital Popular Award under the potato snack category in Indonesia in 2022 where it beat other potato snacks in Indonesia, a URC release in 2022 said.

Mr. John’s son, Lance Gokongwei, who now heads the family’s holding company, JG Summit, started working in the family’s food division after finishing college at Wharton School in Philadelphia, USA.

“Basically, that meant I had to go out and sell Jack ’n Jill snacks to supermarkets. I was paid P2,000 a month,” he said in his book Lessons From Dad, John Gokongwei Jr. “Since I had to go around the city, Dad let me use an old car, a Datsun, with a broken air conditioner. I may have been the son of the boss, but I worked harder than anybody else to prove I wasn’t just the son of the boss.” 

Manila 3rd District Represenative Joel Chua, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, on Tuesday, November 19, said Mary Grace Piattos was just one of the funny and suspicious signatories in the OVP’s 158 acknowledgement receipts related to the its confidential funds.

“Baka dahil sa pagmamadali ng acknowledgement receipts…minadali,” Chua told Radyo 630. “Is this a legitimate person?”

The betting is Mary Grace Piattos won’t be showing up in the House of Representatives to testify in the hearings on the OVP’s confidental funds. 

“Mary Grace Piattos” just signifies how successful the brands Mary Grace Café and URC’s Piattos have become in the Philippines. It could be the ultimate compliment. – Rappler.com