Affiliates
Contact Us
Century International Hotels
TravelSmart.NET

PHILIPPINES
HONG KONG
CANADA
EUROPE
USA
INDONESIA
SINGAPORE
THAILAND


THE WEBSITE
Philippines

When three cooks get together, a recipe for success is made sunny skies to local resorts
Source: Inquirer
Author: None
Date: 1999-06-18
 
THEIR friends had warned them to

reconsider their plans to put up a new

business, even in the more

recessionAresilient food sector. It was in the middle of 1998 and

the economic meltdown has covered the region, drastically

affecting the spending habits of the public.



But partners Thaddeus Gayanelo, Richie Soberano and Jane

Paredes went on with their plan to put up a coffee bar cum

pastry shop in a newly opened section of a Makati mall. Friends

had advised them to just concentrate on the cozy, but

successful coffee shop they had opened in Bagtikan, also in

Makati.



''We knew there will always be a market

for our new venture. After all, Makati

remains the country's financial district,''

says Paredes. They threw out the

advice, albeit wellAmeaning, of friends,

and set up Quatro Caffe Inc., which

now runs the Cafe Cornucopia at the

Glorietta of the Ayala Center.



Today, Cafe Cornucopia is the first

store that greets the customers who go

to the ''Food Choices'' section in

Glorietta 4.



Gayanelo says they were elated when

they got this spot because he knew that

in the specialty food business, location is a prime factor for

success.



There is inevitably always a bit of a flurry in the counter,

because the place has become very popular for its coffee, cakes

and pastries.



The business partners believe the rich aroma of freshly ground

and brewed coffee (they use allAArabica beans grown locally)

always lures the customers, but once they go to the counter,

they are inevitably enthralled by the array of pastries available.



Paredes says that the shop is known for its homemade and

traditional cakes ''with a twist'' and the soAcalled ''trendy cakes''

like the flourless chocolate cake which they have been selling

long before it became a fad in hotels and other coffee shops.



Their other hot sellers include Chocolate Decadence, the

SevenAlayer Sans Rival and jumbo muffins in different flavors

like double choco, apple, cheese carrot and blueberry.



''We design the pastries to go well with coffee. People will

always try our pastries because they're something new, but they

will also stick to what's most familiar to them like anything laced

with chocolate or the traditional carrot cake,'' Paredes says.



Gayanelo says the shop comes up with new products every

quarter and retain the best-sellers.



Last week, they introduced the TshokolateAEh! cake, based on

an old recipe using native chocolate. They were unsure how the

public would respond, but it sold well.



They also serve ''steamers'' or steamed milk seasoned with

amaretto or hazelnut. Paredes says it is a perfect nightcap and

very popular with those who are watching the last show at the

Glorietta 4 cinema.



Recently, the three created the ''Creative Healthy Indulgences''

line for the diet conscious. These include zucchini and cheddar

muffins, reducedAfat chocolate cake, angel cake with reduced

fat lemon sauce, whole wheat cinnamon roll, and noAegg

oatmeal cookies.



Cafe Cornucopia also has ''institutional clients'' or other food

outlets to which they supply ''custom made'' products. It also

supplies the corporate giveaways for a number of AyalaAbased

firms.



Like most successful food businesses, Cafe Cornucopia started

out as a hobby of their owners.



Paredes, coming from a family of superb cooks (a sister works as

a food scientist for Pepsi in New York) learned to cook from

primary school.



Gayanelo started out cooking in the family home in Bacolod.

The two met as students at the Culinary Institute of America

(CIA) in Hyde Park, New York.



Soberano, a cousin of Gayanelo, studied economics at the

Ateneo University, but chose to work in a hotel for his

internship. He had planned to study at the CIA, but put this

plan on hold when he became decided to become one of the

partners of Cafe Cornucopia.



They have a fourth partner, Denise Montinola, a flight attendant

based in Hong Kong, who scours markets in Asia, the US and

Europe for their supplies, and most important, to report on the

emerging food trends abroad.



Cafe Cornucopia actually began in 1996 when Gayanelo and

Paredes put up ''Just on the Market,'' which specialized in

organic foods and ''artisan bread'' made from organic products.

While this venture had regular clients, including a chain of

stores specializing in health products, the two thought that

there were vast potentials in expanding their product line. They

invited Soberano and Montinola to form Caffe Quatro.



Paredes says that they are ''handsAon managers'' but divide the

work equally. Gayanelo is in charge of expanding their

institutional clients while Soberano takes charge of store

operations. The three PhilippineAbased partners have set up

''shiftings'' particularly for the 10 p.m. closing of the Glorietta

branch.



The Cafe Cornucopia in Bagtikan has a different ambience. The

menu includes meals, mainly pastaAbased. Gayanelo says the

shop is like the set of the television series ''Friends.'' They have

seen relationships of their regular customers prosper, unravel

and mend anew while dining in the coffee shop. The customers

also appreciate the corner of newspapers and magazines that

Montinola brings from her trips abroad.



The partners are pragmatic enough to realize that they always

need to update their product line because the specialty food

sector is very competitive. Soberano says they are fortunate

that one of their partners travels regularly abroad where they

source some of their ingredients and cook books.



Recently, the partners announced to friends they are setting up

new branches in Southern Metro Manila. No murmurs of

disapproval were heard this time.
 

Indonesia Thailand USA Europe Canada Hong Kong Philippines