By Marjorie Gorospe
MANDAUE CITY, CEBU— Richard Pepito knows that every Filipino occasion would not be complete without a cake on the table. But he saw something beyond the usual round or square-shaped cakes.
This motivated Richard and his wife, both pastry lovers, to put up (http://loqal.ph/food-and-beverage/2011/06/17/cakes-r-us-cookies-pastries-co/)Cakes R’ Us Cookies and Pastries Co., partly inspired by their travels abroad.
Their business official started in in March 2009 when they began making unique-looking cakes. Instead of “Happy Birthday”, their cakes would carry what the celebrants may wish for – a camera, a pirate ship (inspired by the movie Pirates of the Caribbean) or a Louis Vuitton handbag.
All of these edible, of course. According to Richard, one of the most laborious and complicated cakes they have ever done is the two-feet rotating carousel cake during one of events they joined.
“We started our business with the talents and professional artists in Cebu. What we offer is different from other pastry makers,” he says. He adds they are also conscious about customer expectations and try to adjust their pricing according to budget.
Their cakes well during Valentine’s Day and Mother's Day.
“We Filipinos have this trend of celebrating occasions with a cake. You can give your loved one a dress or other material things but cakes simply become priceless for someone you remember on his or her special day because both of you can enjoy eating it.”
But Richard admits cakes are becoming more expensive to make due to rising costs of ingredients. “It has actually been a challenge in this industry because cakes are really expensive so we try to offer relatively cheaper cakes without compromising quality and taste.”
Cakes R' Us also offer caricature cakes done by real artists – you can have an edible bahay kubo if you wish. Regular-sized cakes range from P2,000 to P3,000 while wedding cakes go for P7,000. They also sell mini-cakes from P150 to P300.
“We’re just happy that we can offer great cakes at reasonable prices. We just simply want to translate our customers' thoughtfulness into something we create,” says Richard.
