History - About me
My childhood was filled with fun memories of me playing pretend-cooking with my cousins and family friends using Chocnut as our main ingredient and Sprite as our drink. At age 11, I baked my first chocolate cake and would force my relatives to buy from me. Papa was a constant victim too because I would make him drink my weird concoctions using my toy blender.
While growing up, you would see me hanging around the kitchen of my lola (grandma) in Lipa watching her cook my favorite adobo. For me, my lola's adobo was the best because it was bright yellow, my favorite color. Her adobo was addicting, I can eat it three times a day, everyday. I would normally eat them with rice swimming in tableya (hot chocolate). What's more fascinating about it was her kitchen. She cooked it in a palayok (claypot) and used panggatong (wood chips) to cook them.
When I was in high school, I would look forward to our "Foods" subject and hoped to be always assigned to be the cook of the day. It was then that I realized what I wanted. Unfortunately, there was only one culinary school at that time and it was far from where we lived. I took a different course in college since the university I went to was just 5 km away from our house. I graduated with a degree in Finance and fortunately for me, I landed a job in the banking industry. Four years later, because I was a high-risk pregnancy patient, I decided to quit my job. From then on, I focused on my family and my passion for food. I started taking short course cooking classes in my free time. In 1997, I took the risk and opened my first 30 sqm restaurant serving Filipino comfort food and pasta dishes (which I made). I had my own cook but I was still the one creating the daily menu. Because of competition, business turned bad. I simplified my menu by offering a specialty dish. I offered sizzling steak on top of my menu. It was a hit. I experimented and thrived on market demands by developing other products to meet the growing needs of customers.
Budgeting, costing, and inventory-handling were all done by me. I eventually became burned out so I decided to venture into franchising. I franchised a popular bakeshop and a small scale pizza business. It was a success! But due to unavoidable circumstances, I was relocated to another place and I had no choice but to give up my ventures. It was in 2006 when i finally was given the chance to study professional cooking. I never thought that at age 36 I would still be able to work. Being the entrepreneur that I am, I established Peach and Co.
While growing up, you would see me hanging around the kitchen of my lola (grandma) in Lipa watching her cook my favorite adobo. For me, my lola's adobo was the best because it was bright yellow, my favorite color. Her adobo was addicting, I can eat it three times a day, everyday. I would normally eat them with rice swimming in tableya (hot chocolate). What's more fascinating about it was her kitchen. She cooked it in a palayok (claypot) and used panggatong (wood chips) to cook them.
When I was in high school, I would look forward to our "Foods" subject and hoped to be always assigned to be the cook of the day. It was then that I realized what I wanted. Unfortunately, there was only one culinary school at that time and it was far from where we lived. I took a different course in college since the university I went to was just 5 km away from our house. I graduated with a degree in Finance and fortunately for me, I landed a job in the banking industry. Four years later, because I was a high-risk pregnancy patient, I decided to quit my job. From then on, I focused on my family and my passion for food. I started taking short course cooking classes in my free time. In 1997, I took the risk and opened my first 30 sqm restaurant serving Filipino comfort food and pasta dishes (which I made). I had my own cook but I was still the one creating the daily menu. Because of competition, business turned bad. I simplified my menu by offering a specialty dish. I offered sizzling steak on top of my menu. It was a hit. I experimented and thrived on market demands by developing other products to meet the growing needs of customers.
Budgeting, costing, and inventory-handling were all done by me. I eventually became burned out so I decided to venture into franchising. I franchised a popular bakeshop and a small scale pizza business. It was a success! But due to unavoidable circumstances, I was relocated to another place and I had no choice but to give up my ventures. It was in 2006 when i finally was given the chance to study professional cooking. I never thought that at age 36 I would still be able to work. Being the entrepreneur that I am, I established Peach and Co.
What is Peach and Co. Test Kitchen and Who is it for?
I was 25 years old when I had my eldest daughter. The circle that I belonged to were mommies who were constantly problematic about food. What to give their chidren? What to serve at home? How can they improve the food at home? It's a repetition of what they have gotten used to. I related to these mommies because I had the same problem as they did.
I wanted badly to go to culinary school not only because it's my passion but also because I wanted to serve better food to my family. But because of my schedule, since I was a hands on mom, I waited for 2 more children before I could finished my professional cooking course. Peach and Co.'s main service is to share my skill and talent and to be able to help these mommies and their family. My ambition is also to bring together my friends and involve them with the work I do. I believe I can grow better if i collaborate with my friends. Side by side, I tried marketing my business. I also looked for part time work to sustain my income. Luckily, I got several part time teaching jobs in different colleges and culinary schools. I was given the biggest break when offered a position in the number one food and beverage company in 2008. I moved to another big Food and Beverage company and stayed for 2 years before finally deciding to go full time with Peach and Co. Another company decided to get me to be their Culinary Training Manager a while after. I obliged and tried but the passion in me to go into consultancy was too strong. With all these experiences, I integrated what I have learned in the education and training industry and the corporate world. Thus, Peach and Co. Test Kitchen evolved with a better brand but with the same aim, to deliver excellent food at high standards. |