Xandra Rocha-Araneta’s sweet superpower
Ice cream, unassuming as it may seem, carries a lot of emotions. As a sweet, summer treat, delight and pleasure. As a pick-me-up, memories of sadness dispelled. It’s a vessel for nostalgia, and at the same time, comfort, bringing to mind childhood afternoons waiting to hear the melodic jingle playing across the street or the ringing bell of a mamang sorbetero.
Entrepreneur, long-time TV and events host, and mom of three Xandra Rocha-Araneta also believes in the joy ice cream could serve up in a simple scoop. “It might sound silly, but when you’re stressed out and there’s so much on your mind, something so simple such as enjoying ice cream, for those few minutes that you’re enjoying it, you’re happy,” she says of creating her brand Pinkerton Ice Cream. “You forget your worries.”
It was this simple (yet important) aim of bringing joy to others that started the brand in 2009 when Rocha-Araneta was still a college student. Back then, she had wanted to create a party contribution that was uniquely hers, at the same time, something everyone could enjoy—and what other perfect treat to bring than ice cream? It was a hit, and so Pinkerton Ice Cream was born. From personal parties, Rocha-Araneta then started catering to events, and soon found herself supplying ice cream to restaurants, Rustan’s, and even stores in Cebu and Bacolod.
And though Rocha-Araneta had to put Pinkerton on pause in 2015 to focus on other pursuits, she now finds herself churning ice cream again, with a renewed purpose.
A mom’s superpower
Listening to Rocha-Araneta speak, whether it’s about unlikely delicacies, stunning travel destinations, or cozy neighborhood haunts, you can always catch the spark of genuine interest and passion in her tone. But nothing quite compares to hearing her talk about her kids, with an even brighter sparkle in her eyes.
Her love for ice cream has come full circle, as her kids have also shown the same fondness for the cool dessert. This is exactly what prompted her to revive Pinkerton Ice Cream.
“My kids love ice cream, and of course, I’m like, that’s kind of my superpower. I make ice cream, and my kids don’t even know! So I decided to revive the business; I had to be the mom that makes the best ice cream,” Rocha-Araneta says.
Pinkerton’s selection features nostalgic flavors as well as classics, inspired and reimagined by her kids’ playful preferences. Take the ube unicorn ice cream taco, for instance, which puts the beloved Filipino flavor, into a taco shell crafted out of sweet sugar cone, then generously topped with a rainbow assortment of pastel sprinkles and a dusting of gold flakes. The flavor was created following one of her daughters’ love for the flavor and all things magical.
“Everyone loved it,” Rocha-Araneta says. “It’s thanks to her. Thanks to the inspiration of my kids and their creativity, even grown-ups are enjoying these nostalgic flavors.”
Original Pinkerton flavors such as Banana Nutella, Red Velvet, and Dulce De Leche, join other unique flavors inspired by all sorts of other sweet treats: apple pie, black forest, and even coffee shop favorites like cafe au lait and matcha latte.
Meanwhile, fruits take center stage in the sherbet and sorbet selection, such as the refreshing guava basil sorbet, and the ever-popular strawberry and buko lychee. Also proving ice cream is the well-deserved treat for all ages, the vegan mango pina colada ice cream is mixed with a splash of Don Papa Rum—a fun addition to an otherwise already inventive flavor.
They’ve also recently added a sorbetes line, featuring flavors inspired by Filipino favorites like bananacue, tsokolate, maja blanca, ginataang monggo, and even desserts like buko salad and mango sago. Crafted with the same Pinkerton standards but made more affordable (and matches perfectly with their cute, light blue retro-modern ice cream cart).
The business, Rocha-Araneta admits, isn’t as aggressive in marketing. But she’s flattered word of mouth and social media posts are helping them still flourish. Right now, she’s focused on continuing to make the products even more accessible.
Eventually, she also hopes to be able to give back through Pinkerton. “What better way to give back to society than by creating an honest, successful, sincere business that can generate jobs?” she says. “If I can pay people well and that allows them to support their family, that for me is very fulfilling. Eventually, part of my goal and vision for the company is once I’m able to open more branches, is to employ those who are differently abled, those who have a really hard time finding jobs.”
Although it isn’t a massive enterprise, Rocha-Araneta says, she wants to do her part in empowering others and creating a workplace people can be happy to be part of.
Finding balance
In the middle of our shoot, the youngest of the kids comes teetering into the room, seeking comfort from her mom. Rocha-Araneta, holding a pint of ube ice cream, scoops her up into her arms as we continue snapping a few more photos.
“It can be really challenging being a working mom,” Rocha-Araneta tells us later. It’s evident how hands-on she is in both her family and her business. “It’s hard to find that balance because there are days when you feel guilty, there are days you feel like you’re neither here nor there. When you’re at work, you want to be at home with your kids, and when you’re home with your kids, you feel like, ‘oh my god, I need to be at work.’”
In dealing with these feelings, Rocha-Araneta stresses the importance of working with a good team. Having people she can trust at work, she says, allows her to truly focus when it’s time to be with her family.
“That’s also something that I learned: it’s the quality of time that you spend in each place. So when I go to the office, I spend quality hours there, getting what I have to do done, and then I go home, and I spend quality hours with my children, trying to be undistracted,” she says. “It’s really quality over quantity.”
Trying new things
“Try everything at least once,” Rocha-Araneta’s parents had told her growing up. This mindset had proven advantageous, especially during her days as a travel host, where she had to try all sorts of dishes and delicacies. It’s this same mindset she is also trying to instill in her children now.
It goes beyond expanding the palate, she says. “It taught me a deeper message, to not be close-minded. Open your eyes to different cultures, different ways of being, different flavors. It’s more about keeping an open mind and not being closed off to what is comforting to you. You’re never going to step out of your comfort zone if you don’t try new things. It’s also [about] respect. There’s no growth without discomfort.”
“And that’s something I feel like I have to teach my kids at an early age. Life isn’t always going to be easy, life isn’t always going to be fair. But you have to focus on taking one step forward. And focus on the lesson and how you can grow from it. There’s always something to be grateful for, always a lesson to be learned. Nothing so bad can happen in life without something good coming from it.”
