Abi Marquez wins the Food Creator of the Year award at the 2025 WIBA Awards in Cannes, France on May 23, 2025.

The Filipino culinary world just added another feather to its cap as Abi Marquez, better known to millions of fans as the “Lumpia Queen,” bagged the coveted Food Creator of the Year title at the 2025 World Influencers and Bloggers Awards (WIBA) held in Cannes, France. Marquez, whose content showcasing Filipino cuisine has taken the internet by storm, made her stunning debut on the WIBA stage during the prestigious ceremony at Hôtel Martinez on May 23, coinciding with the Cannes Film Festival. “Still CRAZY to me that I’m in Europe for the first time and recognized for what my team and I have built with love,” she wrote in a heartfelt post. “You helped Filipino food be seen across the globe.” The annual WIBA Awards, established by the Monaco-based World Influencers Association, honors global social media figures across categories. This year’s glittering event recognized prominent personalities such as Whitney Uland, Patricia Bright, Misha Miller, and Panda Boi, who received the 2025 Grand Prix WIBA. Abi’s win isn’t her first global recognition. She previously won TikTok’s Creator of the Year for Food (2023), the Webby People's Voice Award (2024), and was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (2024). Earlier this month, she was nominated in the Shorty Awards, after her back-to-back win of The Webby Award 2025 and the Webby People's Voice Award 2025, won by public voting. In an exclusive Q&A with Expat Media, Abi opened up about her childhood obsession with cooking, her engineering-influenced love of experimentation, and how one ₱10,000 brand deal changed her life. She also revealed exciting projects on the horizon—including her first cookbook and dream of launching a cooking competition show.
Abi’s food journey started in her own home as a picky child, only satisfied with food “served warm.” But her obsession with food TV—especially shows from the Food Network—combined with a curious and detail-oriented personality, quickly bloomed into a lifelong love affair with cooking.
Growing up, going culinary school was always her dream, but financial constraints steered her toward Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management at UP Diliman. But it was TikTok, not textbooks, that would rewrite her destiny. “I started making TikTok videos for fun,” she told Expat Media in an exclusive interview. “Three or four videos in, I went viral. A month later, a brand paid me ₱10,000 and sent over a box of products—and I thought, wow, this could be real.” Real turned into global when she caught the attention of Gordon Ramsay—yes, that Gordon Ramsay, whose restaurants span the globe, including in Dubai. Collaborating with the Michelin-starred chef, as well as culinary personalities like Uncle Roger and Chef Andre Rush, confirmed what her followers already knew: Abi had earned her seat at the table. The full Q&A will be featured in the upcoming Expat Media Special Edition magazine. Stay tuned.
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