Young mom turns passion for baking into business

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the entry of well-known brands of dessert and pastry shops in Cebu, a young Cebuana entrepreneur is optimistic that there is still a “huge room for everyone to grow in this segment of food business."

Trina Ang-Kokseng, a young mother, a pastry hobbyist who has turned her passion for baking into a business starting off with the opening of a 15-square meter kiosk at the Ayala Center Cebu.

After graduating college, she took a one-year culinary course in Manila then finished a program in Wilton School of Cake Decorating in Chicago, USA and took an apprenticeship under internationally-renowned cake decorator Colette Peters.

Kokseng started considering her formal commercial debut after being successful in baking cakes for special occasions, like birthdays, weddings, for friends and family.

“I was making cakes and then people started asking me for a place to eat,” Kokseng said in an interview.

From an average investment of P800, the young mom recently opened her first dessert parlor or kiosk at the 2nd floor of Ayala Center Cebu's new wing, expressing confidence that there is enough market for this kind of business, regardless the growing competition.

Now, she is making her way to the mainstream market, with hopes to make the "Treat Street Cafe" another household name for desserts and pastry shops in Cebu, and ultimately in the Philippines.

Opening a café, she said is just like creating natural extension for her to hone her passion for great pastries and share it with others.

According to Kokseng, the 18-seat capacity cafe will invite people with good taste for pastry and desserts, as well as those who want to veer away from crowded coffee shop ambiance,

Kokseng, whose family is also into food (the family that runs the Harbour City and Dimsum Break), said that she wants "Treat Street Cafe" to become the new pastry destination for Cebuanos.

Some of their bestsellers include their signature dish, “The Street Pie,” including their Honey Toffee and their native Spicy Lechon Pie.

The Spicy Lechon Pie is her own twist on the traditional meat pie.

“Treats can mean different things to everybody. We didn’t want to limit our selection to only cakes and sweets,” she said, adding that she is also planning to make non-coffee drinks to also make the kiosk a "family snack bar."  (FREEMAN)