PHL startup pitches nonelectric cooker as fuel-saving alternative

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FILIPINO INVENTOR Rowena Faith A. Sucalit and her MagicBag.

By Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

A MAKATI-BASED startup is promoting a nonelectric thermal cooker that it said could cut cooking fuel use by as much as 75% as households grapple with elevated electricity and fuel costs.

“I don’t think we already have this in the Philippines because I was able to patent it,” MagicBag founder Rowena Faith A. Sucalit told BusinessWorld via Zoom.

“It’s very timely because we’re saving up to 75% of gas, electricity, or wood and charcoal. That’s already a big help.”

MagicBag is a handcrafted thermal bag that retains heat to continue cooking food after a shorter stovetop heating period. The product uses water- and mold-resistant materials and can keep food hot for up to eight hours and warm for as long as 16 hours.

“From 100°C, when you put your hot pot inside, after eight hours, it’s still 71°C,” Ms. Sucalit said.

The product can also preserve frozen food for up to 24 hours during power outages and function as a flotation device during floods, she said.

“If there’s a brownout, you can put frozen food from your freezer, and it will stay frozen up to 24 hours,” she added.

Ms. Sucalit said the concept is based on thermal cooking systems used overseas, including “hay box” cookers in the US and Europe and recycled foam-based systems in South Africa.

MagicBag reduces stovetop cooking time for soup-based meals and slow-cooked dishes. A regular-sized unit fits a four-liter pot, while larger units can hold pots of up to eight liters.

Ms. Sucalit said slow-cooked dishes such as beef shank and marrow soup, locally known as bulalo, can be boiled on the stovetop for just 30 minutes instead of the usual two hours before being transferred to the thermal bag to finish cooking.

“After 30 minutes, you transfer the hot pot inside the MagicBag, close it really tight and it will continuously cook your food up to eight hours,” she said.

She said the system also lowers the risk of burning food because cooking continues without direct heat.

MagicBag users are composed mostly of mothers and zero-waste advocates, with customers saving as much as P1,000 monthly depending on cooking habits, according to the company.

Data from the Department of Energy showed prices of an 11-kilo liquefied petroleum gas cylinder ranged from P1,070.42 to P1,701.77 as of May.

MagicBag has received certification from the Department of Science and Technology and has sold 120 units since its launch at the Back to Basics EcoStore in Quezon City in March.

The company aims to sell at least 100 units monthly by year-end.