Kalamansi: How a tiny Philippine citrus became Kalamansi Collective’s muse

Kalamansi Collective owner Kris Pangilinan remembers well the first time he tasted kalamansi. The tiny citrus fruit, native to the Philippines, is smaller than a pingpong ball, but it “packed a punch”.

Pangilinan was visiting the Philippines at the time, having a meal at Mang Inasal—a chicken barbecue restaurant—where they offered condiments such as soya sauce, vinegar, and a slice of kalamansi.

“I remember the saltiness of the soya sauce, and then the flavour just popped (with kalamansi). It’s not like a lemon, a lime, or an orange. It’s its own thing,” said Pangilinan of the sour fruit.

For the rest of his trip he put kalamansi on everything: a little squeeze on top of pansit, rice, fish, on anything grilled. He loved it so much that he took bagfuls of them home to Canada and froze them, as a wee bit of delightful surprise with his meals.

Years later, kalamansi would become the muse for his business venture Kalamansi Collective.

“I wanted to start something that Filipinos can be proud of, something they can relate to,” he said.

“Kalamansi is a small fruit, kinda like Filipinos—small in stature and size.

“But we squeeze every ounce of juice to give back to other people, to our families, to the community. It’s how the name came up,” Pangilinan said.

The collective sells tote bags, hats, hoodies and shirts with Filipino slangs and sayings such as “Oh my Gulay (vegetable)” and “Hello Ma’amSir”.

“Through creative designs and cultural references, Kalamansi Collective highlights the immense sacrifice of immigrant families who have braved starting anew in a different country and have dedicated their lives to provide a better future,” as stated on their website.

The Kalamansi Collective tote bag that went viral

Pangilinan was hesitant at first about starting a TikTok account but did it anyway. He said he simply posted a video of a woman putting lumpia leftovers from a party into a giant tote bag with a “This bag contains Filipino leftovers” printed on it.

“That day I just kept getting notifications from TikTok. The views continued to grow and ended up going viral,” said Pangilinan.

The video currently has over 400,000 views across all social media platforms.

Hello Ma’amSir is a Filipino thing

Another popular product in the collective’s lineup is a baseball hat, or a shirt, with the Filipino phrase “Hello Ma’amSir” embroidered on it.

Pangilinan instinctively knew it was the right phrase to use for his shop local campaign.

“I remember going around SM and was so astonished about how many employees they have. Every two seconds you’ll hear ‘HelloMa’amSir’. This is like a thing,” he said.

SM, or Shoemart, is a popular shopping mall chain in the Philippines.

“We tested it out at Barkada Market and it sold out the first night. We posted on TikTok…the video blew up again. We ended up making hats, same colour as SM.”

Shop Local Filipino Stores campaign

Pangilinan is passionate about supporting the small local Filipino stores such as the ones around St. James Town, a predominantly Filipino community, where he grew up in.

“When you’re looking for an ulam (a meal), or a snack craving, we want to remind people: it’s easy to pick up Filipino snacks from a (major) grocery store, but don’t forget about the Filipino-owned stores that carry the same product.

“The money isn’t going to a large corporation—it’s going to someone who’s working hard, the money is going to someone who raised you with their snacks and welcomed you with a warm smile,” he said.

When Loblaws came out with Filipino-inspired products such as adobo chips, lumpia rolls, ube burger buns and ube boba pie, Pangilinan was thrilled at first to see Filipino products featured in the mainstream, but was unimpressed with the inauthenticity of the products.

“At a certain point it becomes a mockery of our culture. I understand who they’re trying to appeal to: non-Filipinos. You can’t just narrow us down to adobo or ube. If you’re going to do it, do it authentically,” said Pangilinan.

Pangilinan wants his company to pay homage to immigrant families and celebrate the fruit of their labour.

“We want to show love and pride for our culture. We’re at a point where being Filipinos…we can be proud again.”