Robert Spakowski – Executive Chef of Tapella

With a Degree in Culinary Arts and Tech Management from CCA and
a second diploma from the International Culinary Center in New York,
Chef Spakowski started his dream of having his own restaurant on a
very young age. Coming from a family with Capampangan roots,
Spakowski’s passion for culinary rose from his observations since
young that good food is the formula that makes everybody happy,
creates lasting bonds and unending healthy conversations. From these
observations, he started Tapella.

With a team of 7, Tapella has its flow when it comes to managing

orders from tables, the quality of food, how it can be improved and how
to make it more stable. Chef Spakowski remains firm on his standards
of following procedures when preparing food. Learning from his past,
Chef Spakowski believes that it is important to travel more, work longer
in other countries to be able to discover new cuisines and hear other
shop’s stories. As to his advice to future and aspiring chefs, “They
have to realize one tune – It is not a glamorous job as it may seem.
Being a chef is a very difficult profession so you must choose wisely”.

 Barbes Trinidad Pio – Owner of Royal Chimney

What started as a hobby then became passion that drove her to take
up Food Technology in college and courses in Culinary and baking
afterwards. If she could give an advice to herself after all that she
had experienced, it is not to invest too much emotion and trust. “I
would tell my old self not to rush things. It’s always mind over matter
when it comes to business. Putting up a business is not something
that could be done overnight. It requires lot of efforts, knowledge on
the industry and lot of good people around you to support you all the
way”.

Angela Songco – Co-owner of Sugarleaf

“Serendipity!” that’s how Angelo Songco describes how

he and his friend Gina Salting Yambot came up with the
idea of starting Sugarleaf. With his sales and marketing
experience and his over 10 years of being in the
corporate world, Songco and his partner started
Sugarleaf in early 2011 on their first location in San
Juan.

Emerging from other organic coffee shop, Songco and

the whole Sugarleaf team promotes and focuses on
locally sourced, grown and manufactured healthy
products. Also, they highlight and showcase proudly Pinoy products as they are a one stop shop
bringing customers fresher and more nutritionally appropriate products.

Being part of Sugarleaf is one of Songco’s best decisions in life due to their loyal customers. And with
this, he shared a piece of their secret to gaining customers. “We are true to our philosophy of ‘Honest
to Goodness’. We operate based on this that puts God, our customer and partners first. Profit, though
important, is not the primary motivation of our
business.” 

Jackie Arceo – Co-Founder of Local Edition

Coffee and Tea
A duo of alumni from Dela Salle University were the ones behind the idea of putting up a local coffee
and tea shop. Jackie Arceo and her partner/best friend Julia Sevilla have known each other since
college. Jackie, an advertising graduate, handles the food side on the café after finally deciding to
leave her corporate job and go full time with the business.

Being strong advocates of supporting local products and the local community, Jackie and her partner
named the café as Local Edition Coffee and Tea. Why local? The café serves locally produced coffee
from local communities instead of importing as they believe that local products is even better than
imported ones.

As their edge from other cafes, Local Edition Coffee and Tea stays true to its brand values of using
local products from local communities and collaborating with a lot of local artisans. “We being true to
our values is our competitive advantage and we are open to a lot of collaborators. We don’t just
collaborate with people for installation but we try to learn and grow with them”.  

Albert Alavera – Owner of Burgoo

Starting from the bottom, Albert Alavera is the best example of success
due to strong determination, hard work and perseverance.

Started as a dishwasher, pizza maker, cook server and other tough jobs
on the lowest rank, he rose and became Vice President for Operations of
the largest pizza chain in the country. From these experiences, his
passion to hospitality industry became an obsession that made way to
conceptualization of Burgoo.

Burgoo and Alavera’s other chains of restaurants focus on “family-

concept” service. It is a combination of eating and entertainment concept
where guests can bond with their kids, friends and co-workers. One of his
best decision in life is when he decided to make the single concept into
chain that provided jobs to lot of people.

Aside from being hardworking and trailblazer, Alavera shared some of his
habits that helped him rose from the bedrock to the hill. “I always encourage people to set their goals
and to work really hard to achieve it. I always share my story of how I started before I reached where I
am today. Save money and be prudent on what to buy. There should always be limitations in
everything that we do and spend.”  

Asiang Reyes – The Aristocrat

In the 1930s, Asiang Reyes started The Aristocrat as a
mobile canteen in Luneta, serving sandwiches filled
with adobo and other Filipino viands. Hotdog trucks
were in vogue at that time. Reyes created her own
version of merienda for park-goers. 
Reyes was supposed to name the canteen “Andy” after
her eldest son, but changed it to Aristocrat instead. The
canteen prospered, and Reyes and her husband
decided to turn it into a full-time restaurant.

Araceli and Jun Manas – Hen Lin

Using the recipes they learned from a Chinese chef and
a capital of P30,000, Araceli and Jun Manas started
Hen Lin in 1983. Jun worked for an insurance firm while his wife Araceli worked in a bank.
The couple had to learn the intricacies of the business themselves. At night, they practiced
making siomai or dumplings. 
The Manas couple opened the first Hen Lin store in SM Makati, which was well received for
its delicious dim sum offerings. 30 years on, Hen Lin is popular in many malls, offering
various products such as hopia, noodles, congee, rice toppings, and breakfast food. 

Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee

If you thought you only loved The Champ and Chicken Joy, then
be prepared to be inspired by the man behind the franchise.
Also coming from an immigrant family from China, Tony learned
the value of hard work and dedication from his father who worked
as a cook in a Buddhist temple. Tony’s father started a Chinese
restaurant in Manila with his savings so he can send him to college.
Corazon D. Ong, CDO Foodsphere
Corazon represented the value of having passion in what you
do as a motivating factor in finding success as an
entrepreneur.
Corazon was a dietitian by profession. She used her
knowledge to create processed meats that were affordable
enough to compete with the popular foreign brands. She
developed corned beef, hamburger patties, meat loaf, and
hotdogs, which were sold purely as a home business.

Milagros, Clarita, and Doris Leelin – Goldilocks

With only two cake displays and ten employees, Milagros,
Clarita, and Doris Leelin started Goldilocks at a 70-sq-m
building space in Makati. Sisters Milagros and Clarita
loved baking and decided to pursue their passion into
business. With the help of their sister-in-law Doris, the
Leelins opened their first branch.
In 1991, Goldilocks launched its franchising program. As
of 2015, the bakeshop chain had almost 400 stores across
the country, with other branches in the USA, Canada, and Southeast Asia. From a modest
capital of P66,000, Goldilocks is now a multi-million food enterprise with more than 4,000
employees.