FOOD content creator, Abigail “Abi” Marquez, a.k.a. “Lumpia Queen,” won the People’s Voice Award in the General Social: Food and Drink Category of the 28th Annual Webby Awards in New York City.
In her Instagram post, Marquez shared her victory, emphasizing that she was the “First Filipino from the Philippines to win the Webby Award, because of you!”
“This is a celebration of Filipino food, talent, and the hard work of so many people. Grateful beyond words for the chance to fly to New York, represent our country, and cherish this moment as a core memory. THIS IS OUR WIN,” she wrote.
Marquez said that her victory was a triumph for all Filipinos and the entire country. “Philippines, this is for you!” she said in her heartfelt five-word winning speech.
The Webbys honors nine different media types such as Websites and Mobile Sites, Video Advertising, Media & PR, Apps & Software, Social, Podcasts, Games, and AI, and Metaverse & Virtual.
She was nominated in the prestigious 2024 James Beard Media Awards under the Social Media Account category and won the title of TikTok Food Creator of the Year in 2023.
Who is Abi Marquez?
Marquez graduated magna cum laude in 2022 with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
“[The course] taught me food theories and real-life practices that inform my content. These include how to prepare food safely, the role of showmanship in food preparation, [and] how to make cooking more efficient. As a result, I am confident that whatever I share in my content is theoretically sound,” she explained in the Rappler interview.
During her college years, she found relief from university life by making food videos.
Turning into the Lumpia Queen
Starting from frying marshmallows in lumpia wrappers, Marquez paved her way to #FoodTok with her original and creative line, “What happens if we ____ make with lumpia wrappers?”.
She enticed everyone with her ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), on-the-beat sounds, and, of course, her enthusiasm and savvy skills.
Her cooking skills are limitless—preparing traditional Filipino dishes and desserts, typical street foods, trending new recipes, ASMR mukbangs, and cooking tutorials that look effortlessly easy, making you want to cook as well.
As the Lumpia Queen, her experiments using lumpia wrapper with unusual combinations never ends. She literally does everything under the sun in her kitchen!
Marquez also collaborated with chefs Erwan Heussaff and Ninong Ry and food vlogger Jujumao in their liempo lettuce wraps, as well as Andy Hearnden, popularly known as Andy Cooks.
With 3.4 million followers on TikTok, her tanghulu video content reached 39.5 million views, while her peach-mango lumpia video garnered 31.2 million views.
Marquez manages and singlehandedly runs her social media accounts and online content.
