THE story of Klaude’s Delight starts with Judith Bernardo realizing how much her bestfriend spent on cakes, crepes and other desserts whenever they would go out for a grub.
“Normally, she spends around P500 on dessert in one sitting. That’s a lot, considering we eat out more than once a week,” Bernardo said about Shine Villarta, her bestfriend-turned-business partner.
The two were seatmates in high school, before they became best friends and food buddies.
“I really, really love crepes and cakes, but such love could be expensive. It eventually got us to asking ourselves whether we would still be spending that much if we just bought ingredients and started making desserts at home,” Villarta recalled.
They were ecstatic to find out it was indeed a lot more affordable making their own dessert, so they posted some of their creations online. They even put their small cheesecakes in clear jars to make it more Instagram-worthy.
They were surprised at the number of inquiries their personal posts would eventually attract. Friends and friends of friends started to ask whether they were selling the sweet stuff, and for how much, if they did. Selling their delicious experiments was not part of the plan, but they thought, why not?
Of course, it helped a lot that Villarta has always been business-minded—something she most probably got from her mom.
“I just resigned from being an employee when Klaude’s Delight started, but I’ve already dipped my toes in entrepreneurship way before. Back in fifth grade, I would sell banana cue, camote cue and other food items around our subdivision. My mother is also into business like that—we have a mini grocery and a piggery,” Villarta said.
Klaude’s Delight and its owners had its fair share of bumps and roadblocks.
“Shine was a full-time mom, and I was still teaching in UP Los Baños, so it was difficult at times since we didn’t actually have a physical store back then, when we started in 2014,” Bernardo recalled.
They had to set up Facebook and Instagram accounts for their starting business. Through these accounts, interested clients sent orders and arranged meet-ups with the two. They didn’t even have a car for deliveries so they commuted to and from meeting buyers.
“Since we do meet-ups, we really had to invest a lot of time, aside from what it took us to actually make the cakes. Sometimes, we have to meet buyers all the way from Baclaran, Los Baños, and other places that are pretty far. I am a mom of two; my business partner is a teacher. It took most of what we got to keep Klaude’s Delight going,” Villarta said.
Despite the challenges, Villarta and Bernardo never even considered giving up on Klaude’s Delight.
“That’s what happens when you love what you do. We started with P700 as capital, and within three months, we were able to raise that to P7,000. That might not be big enough for other people, but we were having fun making cheesecakes so the profit was really just a wonderful bonus,” Villarta said.
It has been two years since the friends decided to turn their hobby into a business. Now, not only is their clientele growing by the day; they actually have a physical store that houses their cheesecakes.
“My husband and the owner of Dito: Bahay ng Sining, Jay Crisostomo IV, met because of their mutual liking for magic cards. We became frequent visitors of Dito, and then we started helping Jay run the place. And when he offered to house our cheescakes in the Dito Café, we couldn’t be more excited,” Villarta said.
Today, aside from placing orders online, clients of Klaude’s Delight could simply drop by Dito: Bahay ng Sining in Marikina to order a jar or two of cheesecakes. One small jar costs P80, the medium one P120 and the large jar P140. Three flavors of cheesecakes are currently available: Oreo Cookies ‘n’ Cream, Nutella and Blueberry.
Villarta, 26, and Bernardo, 27, realize their decision to put up a business may not be as welcome an idea for most Filipinos.
“The difficult part is getting the support of people around you since, in the Philippines, we were trained to make employment, not business, the goal. But I do believe that if you love what you’re doing, you’ll find a way to make it all work,” Villarta said.
Bernardo agreed it may have been fate or really good luck working when their simple posts on social media turned out to be a step in the right direction, but it was really hard work and passion that got Klaude’s Delight through to where it is now.
“You cannot give the kind of commitment that a business venture demands if you are not passionate about what you are doing. Find something you love doing, and profit will come naturally,” Bernardo said.