Last year’s Covid-19 lockdowns granted this young entrepreneur time to revive his interest in whipping up home-cooked meals. This resulted in a new venture and a chance to help others.
“Our goal is simple. To provide familiar Pinoy food that is affordable and all-natural…We want our food to make our customers remember how your mom or lola (grandmother) would cook it.”
The year 2020 certainly upended the routines of every Filipino’s life. Some held steady, working from home, while others tried new ventures. For call center executive Eric Capacia, it was rediscovering an inborn talent.
Eric is no stranger to the kitchen. Growing up, he remembers helping out his grandmother, whom he called Inang, as well as his two older sisters, Miriam and Eva, prepare the ingredients for their meals. From the simplest to the most complicated dishes, he learned to whip up anything and everything.
“Being able to work our way around the kitchen and create delicious food was something expected of us, since we grew up in a family, who boast of good home cooks,” Eric says. “Cooking was somewhat innate in us.”
Clamor for more
When the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in March last year, Eric was suddenly able to enjoy a precious commodity that he had lacked for several years. “Previously, I was spending so little time at home due to my corporate life as a BPO (business process outsourcing) manager,” he recalls. “Coupled with navigating Metro Manila traffic, I worked long hours in the office, which meant very little time, and sometimes, none at all, to devote to my love for cooking.
“Little by little [by being homebound], I regained my momentum and confidence in the kitchen. It wasn’t hard to regain it. It just came out naturally.”
Initially, Eric started cooking purely for himself. “Then, it went on to sharing meals with my sisters, friends and relatives,” he recalls. “I did it for a month or two before I realized there was a [need for me] to cook more. There was a demand. People were even willing to pay the shipping fee just to have my home-cooked meals delivered to them.”
Eric subsequently named his food business “Yaya’s Home Kitchen,” after his household help, Ging Ging, who has been with him for the last three years. “She played a vital role in the selection of the name of my food business and its concept.”
He reveals that Ging Ging’s family in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental province, had been severely affected by the pandemic, which put a heavy financial burden on her. She was frequently forced to request for salary advances to tide her relatives over. “That gave me the idea to create a business that would enable her to earn on the side,” Eric adds. In May 2020, “Yaya’s Home Kitchen” was formally launched.
Paying forward
“Our goal is simple,” Eric describes his startup. “To provide familiar Pinoy food that is affordable and all-natural. No preservatives or extenders. We want to offer great food to people without hurting their daily food budget. We want our food to make our customers remember how their mom or lola (grandmother) would cook it.”
Eric shares the income from the enterprise with Ging Ging, who is now in a better position to provide for her family in the province. “It’s my way of paying it forward. I was lucky enough to be able to keep my job and work from the comfort of my own home,” he says.
The entrepreneur’s culinary skills were not only handed down from his grandmother, but also his late father and mother. “Both my parents were great cooks and could create wonderful meals,” he gushes. He was around 12 or 13 when he concocted a dish that he dared to share with someone outside of the family. He prepared pancit bihon guisado (stir-fry noodles) for a friend who was celebrating a birthday. He says: “It wasn’t perfect, for sure, but it was edible and didn’t end up in the trash bag. Since then, I wanted to cook and create nice meals that would remind the person eating how their family would prepare the dish for them.”
After graduating from the University of Sto. Tomas with a degree in journalism, Eric worked as a sales broker for a leading Makati firm for seven years. Along the way, he also took up insurance courses at the Singapore Insurance Institute, two years of French classes at the Alliance Francaise de Manila and a digital marketing class in CDM (Certified Digital Marketer) at Google in 2017.
Eric has been in the BPO industry for the last 16 years, working for the same employer. “I am very happy with the way my company dealt with the pandemic and made sure employees were safe and cared for. Currently, I am juggling two hats — that of a manager and an entrepreneur.”
Balancing work and personal life has never been a problem for this affable young man. “I’m a simple Juan,” Eric insists. “As long as there’s internet and Netflix, I am good. That’s why it has been conducive for me to work and start a business from home. I really can’t complain. The set up works well for me.”
In response to clients eager to replicate his dishes, Eric posts tutorials on Sundays on his YouTube channel, Fierce Vlogs. “Now that everything is digital, you can do just about everything and anything through the internet,” he says. “I do not claim to be a chef nor an expert. That’s why I’m more relatable to the common foodie out there, who simply wants to create delicious food for the family. I am simply a passionate home cook.”
During the recent holidays, Eric offered Christmas gift sets, consisting of embutido (meatloaf), pork lumpiang shanghai (fried pork spring rolls), skinless longganisa (sausage) in sweet and spicy versions and bagoong (fermented fish) with pork, as well as pork menudo (stew) and garlic buttered chicken.
“It has been eight months since we opened our kitchen and served Yaya’s Home Kitchen meals to various homes,” Eric says. “We may not be a food empire, but the income has been good and steady. Yaya Ging is able to provide financially for her family, and I have been able to save for myself and upgrade my kitchen equipment.
“For this, we thank our nice and loyal customers, who have been with us all this time.”
ABOUT ME
Role model
I look up to people who come from humble beginnings and make it big in their chosen field through dedication and hard work.
Goal
To sustain and possibly grow my online food business more
First paying job
I remember feeling rich when I received P7,200 for working for half a month as a corporate secretary for a stock brokerage firm. This was in 1996.
Morning ritual
A quick prayer and then on to browsing my mobile phone for messages
Special skill
I adapt easily to my environment
Time spent on Social media
Six to eight hours daily. I created my own website and post my own video content on YouTube: https://fierceblogschannel.blogspot.com/
Source: ManilaTimes
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