The family that works together finds catering success together

They have successfully set up gasoline stations and were doing well in the rice distributions business in their hometown in Carmen in southern Cebu.

But the Puas have never been happier when they went into the catering business where the family can do hands on work together. And that was reason they decided to venture into the catering business and created Chef Me Out Food and Catering Services in August this year.

Virgil and Anne Pua with their son Nico and daughter-in-law Ciarra then partnered with their sister Bambi Pua-Abelgas and  her husband Christian to start the business.

Abelgas said they knew that their passion for the business would help them hurdle challenges and make the business grow.

It was in 2009 when they noticed a surge in interest for different cuisines in Cebu.

Ann, Nico and Christian then enrolled in a culinary course that they can use for their planned business.

“Anne focused on the pastries while Nico and Christian focused on the hot kitchen. Now they are our main chefs while the rest of us help manage all our bookings for events and all other operations. Basically though, we do everything together,” said Abelgas.

With the many existing catering companies already established, the Pua’s said  while setting up the business was already a risk, they still needed to do everything carefully.

They started with an investment of at least P400,000 for the equipment and kitchen utensils needed for all the cooking and baking as well as to set up their office along M.L. Quezon Street in Cabancalan, Mandaue City where they also hold their storage facility for their ingredients and cooking needs.

“For our kitchen, we do all the cooking in our home in Metropolis Subdivision in Talamban, Cebu City,” said Abelgas.

The group then held food tasting sessions with possible clients starting with their roster of friends who were amazed at how delicious their dishes are.

“They all said good things about our food and we were very encouraged.”

The first event that they officially handled was for the fiesta celebration in Carmen which they considered their official announcement about their business.

They have also started hiring on-call waiters and chefs to help them especially during huge events.

“We have about 10 to 15 waiters and three chefs to help us in events.”

Since their launch in August, the group has now enjoyed full bookings for events from Wednesdays all the way to Sunday.

The group do the purchasing, cooking and even setting the place according to the clients preferred theme.

“That’s what makes us different, we already include in the package the setup of the place as a bonus. We also put in some stations like pata, crepe, Mexican, Japanese and grill to give options to those who want to have more variations in their menu,” Abelgas said.

Their minimum package starts at P160 per head and the most expensive one is at P250 to P300 per head which includes five main courses, two desserts, soup, welcome drinks and free lechon (roasted pig) for those with big bookings for a minimum of 100 people.

“They can also opt for the free station of either a salad station, crepe, pasta or grilling station,” said Abelgas.

The group also read magazines and surf the Internet to research especially on how to make an impressive setup.

“We take time to learn all these because this is what we want to be known for. We want our customers to not only enjoy our food but also have a wonderful time during the event through our setup,” she said.

For their long term plan, the group said they aim to open an restobar within two to three years from now.

“We plan to set up a restaurant bar type of establishment hopefully by 2014. It will serve as another way for us to introduce to people our food,” Abelgas said.

This Christmas season, the group said they have already bookings for most of the days starting last Friday.

They will do catering services for this paper for their Dec. 16 Christmas party.

Abelgas said their clients usually learn of their catering business through word-of-mouth especially from those who attended events that they handled in the past.c