When Nicky Lozano first tasted Memz Chicharon, it was instantly love at first bite. The year was 2011, and his dad would go on numerous business trips to Butuan, where a chance encounter with a bag of Memz Chicharon at the Butuan Airport had him reeling. He had to share it with his family! Since then, it became a staple and a visit to Butuan always meant coming home with several bags of this incredible pork product in tow. This love affair went on for three years until Nicky and his brother Paulo, decided to fly to Butuan in search of the people behind Memz.

A self-proclaimed foodie, Nicky knows a good thing when he tastes it?and he tasted a great thing with Memz. ?I?ve always gravitated towards food,? says Nicky. ?Opening a restaurant was something I thought I wanted to do. I?d always go to restaurants and get inspired by chefs and their passion for food. But I wasn?t a chef, and that?s where the disconnect was. While I love cooking and eating, I know I can?t be in the kitchen all day.? Everything food-related that Nicky wanted to do was put on the back burner?until Memz Chicharon came along. Call it divine intervention or fate, because the Lozanos discovered that their corporate lawyer and close friend was a former student of Gil Calang and his wife, Marianie (fondly known as Memz). An introduction was immediately made between the Calangs and Lozanos, and a slow but steady courtship between the two parties built up, until the two sides finally locked down their partnersh...