Ilongga finds opportunity in cakes, pastries in Cebu

Kria Padilla Roleda was a newscaster, radio jockey and a teacher before she became a chef and ventured into her pastry business, Mary Muffins.

Mary Muffins — a pun on the movie “Mary Poppins” starring Julie Andrews — is a fusion of her love for classical movies and sweet muffins.

It started as a physical store in 2014 in Banawa, Cebu, selling pastries and breads.

A year after, Kria closed the store because “it was starting to take away time from my husband and children.”

She also realized that most of the orders were on the artisanal cakes so she decided it was best to do online marketing.

“Not only was it more cost-efficient, I was also able to effectively target the consumer market that I wanted to tap since most of my products are customized cakes and specialized pastry products,” she said.

Her bestsellers are chewy cinnamon rolls topped with creamy cheese frosting; boozy cakes infused with different distilled alcoholic drinks; moist chocolate cakes; and customized cakes.

Kria was born and raised in Iloilo. She worked as newscaster and radio jockey in her hometown.

Things were doing well in her chosen career but as fate — or God’s will — would have it, she met Manuel, a Cebuano who was then working in Iloilo, who later became her husband.

After the birth of their first child, Manuel was reassigned to Cebu. Kria and Manuel are parents to three children: Mikaelo Cecilio, Sebastian Rafael, and Vitoria Isobel.

Since 2002, the couple has raised their family in Cebu which made her love Cebu and embrace it like her hometown.

She may be an Ilongga by birth, but she considers herself as a Cebuana by choice.

Pastries
Kria taught herself to bake because she loves pastries.

But there was no conscious decision to become a pastry chef.

“All I really wanted was to have the basic skills to bake the more complicated pastries that my kids would crave for,” she said.

In 2011, she ventured into baking cinnamon rolls, the chewy and fluffy kind of rolls with different sweet toppings, which Kria proudly describes as “similar to a popular international brand.”

It was a big hit to her children and friends. She was getting orders from strangers which led her to rent a stall in a weekend bazaar.

Her supportive husband, armed with an entrepreneurial mind, saw it as an opportunity and encouraged her to enroll in baking school and go into the pastry/baking business full time.

Kria heeded his advice and enrolled in Diploma in Pastry and Bakery Arts with Australian Certificate III in Patisserie at the International School for Culinary Arts & Hotel Management.

In school, she was able to refine her rough baking skills and gained extensive knowledge in baking and patisserie.

Kria said the one-year program was loaded with theoretical and practical exercises.

She worked and studied diligently. Her efforts, by the end of the program, were rewarded after she received the Achievement of Excellence Award and adjudged Over-all Champion in Baking by pastry chefs and experts from Australia.

Pricing
The customers of Mary Muffins are discerning consumers, who demand for cakes which are both beautiful and delicious.

Her customer base cuts across different demographics: mothers, children, young professionals, corporate offices and institutions.

Kria admits that placing a price tag on her tags is a tricky part of running the business.

In the local market, she said some people do not understand the distinctions between specialty and customized cakes from run-of-the-mill cheap packaged cakes displayed in bakery shelves.

“My cakes are made with premium ingredients, some of which I personally import. Then there is the level of skill and craftsmanship required in shaping and forming the final product,” she said.

Kria said these cakes do not come from generic recipes using ordinary ingredients thrown together into a batter and shoved into the oven.

“That is why, except for my regular products such as cinnamon rolls and cupcakes, my artisan cakes are priced based on the type of ingredients to be used and level of skill required in achieving the finish that the customer wants,” she noted.

Kria said she only reduces the price up to a certain level.

If customers would ask for a lesser price, Padilla said she would politely ask them to look for another baker because she would not compromise on quality by making her products easily affordable. Otherwise, her products would be no different to bakeshops selling generic cakes with sugary toppings.

Lessons
For Kria, family always comes first before business.

To her, it is not about striking a balancing act between being a mother/wife and an entrepreneur.

It is about choosing when to be a mother and when to tend to the business.

“Running your own business is a 24/7 endeavor. Managing things never stops. A business is like a jealous lover, it will demand for your time and attention when you least expect it,” she said.

As an entrepreneur, Kria said it had always been good to expand your circle.

“Continuous referral from satisfied customers is good. It means that you are doing something right. But it does not hurt to regularly expand your social and business circles on your own. Not only are they rich sources of new customers, often you find life-long friends and possible business partners within them,” she said.

Kria also believes in the value of earning efficiently.

“Successful entrepreneurs are those who do not look into the current size of their businesses. Instead, they are more conscious of finding ways to earn efficiently. A business can generate substantial income regardless of size if it is managed proficiently,” she said.

Plans
Her short-term plan is to re-open a physical shop for artisan and customized cakes within the next two years.

In the long term, she hopes to put up additional branches in key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

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