For over a year now, we’ve seen so many home-based food businesses start and flourish during the pandemic. Every sushi bake, ube-cheese pan de sal, sourdough bread, Basque burnt cheesecake and whatever else you have ordered and enjoyed come with untold stories—how these businesses started, the people behind them and what keeps them going.
Here are two of them.
The Hungry Sibs
Siblings Hennessy, Hillary, Hannah and Henrick Fong decided to turn their love of food with The Hungry Sibs in May 2020.
“We find joy in sharing hearty meals with our family and friends. To our surprise, this seemingly simple passion for food turned into something big because of the free time we had during the quarantine,” said Hennessy. “Being stuck at home became worthwhile and fun.”Like many others during the early days of the pandemic, the Fongs would gather to binge-watch shows and movies at night. “It wouldn’t be complete without snacking on something, so we always asked our eldest sister to prepare a midnight snack. That’s when our signature Cheesy Bacon Baked Potatoes came to life. We all loved it so much that we ate it for consecutive days and still didn’t get enough of it. We all agreed that it can be sold commercially.”
A year after they launched, The Hungry Sibs’ menu has grown, dishes that their so-called The Hungry Buyers have fallen in love with. The Parmesan Crusted Baked Salmon (our favorite), All-Beef Lasagna and Smoky Baby Back Ribs are now their biggest sellers. The Nacho Bake is a hit, too.
“We make it a point to give our customers their money’s worth. We formulate every dish to perfection before adding it to our menu. We use only fresh and the finest ingredients and we don’t take shortcuts. We believe that good food takes time. And we provide generous servings. Sulit na sulit!”
The Fongs are always delighted to hear from their customers. “It’s fulfilling to hear them say that they loved the food, even the picky eaters among them. It is also heartwarming to hear that our food is the best they have tasted.” (The Hungry Sibs on Facebook, @thehungrysibsph on Instagram)
The Pantry Project Manila
Peejay del Prado and his family had plans to offer their family’s heirloom recipes to the public even before the pandemic.
When the pandemic hit, Del Prado, who was a project manager for SM Engineering, with his sister Mollie Delos Reyes, who works for a business process outsourcing company, and his mom Belen del Prado, a retired local government employee, decided to do something. “We aimed to help not just our own kitchen but other home cooks, too.”
They put up The Pantry Project Manila in July. Their first offering? Belen’s Badass Bopis. “You might be wondering, ‘Why bopis?’ I want the public to be comfortable in eating bopis and let them know that it can be very meticulously prepared and clean, that it can be gourmet but stay inexpensive at the same time.”
Customers have fallen in love with it. “I’ve never had bopis like this!” one said.
“The best ’yung bopis!” said another customer who said that her husband became a convert after trying The Pantry Project Manila’s version.
They offer dishes lovingly prepared by other home cooks as well. “Our Pugon Lasagna, Chicken Casserole Bake, Chicken Milinesa, and Chinese Boiled Dumplings (Shui Jiao) are all prepared by awesome moms with whom we decided to share our platform.”
That means when you order from The Pantry Project Manila, you get to taste the favorites of different families. “There is heart in every recipe . . . You get a sense of how beautifully each dish was created as every home cook would only want to serve the best meals to their families. Nostalgia, warmth and home—they’ll make you keep coming back,” said Del Prado.
Their offerings arrive at your home wrapped like gifts. That’s because they are from one family to another. (tel. 0905-2700617; The Pantry Project Manila on Facebook, @pantryprojectmnl on Instagram) —BY PAM PASTOR
