A Delicious Family Tradition

CEBU, Philippines — For some people, happiness comes from having money; for others, it’s in spending quality time with loved ones. But for the Cabinian family, happiness is serving quality homemade breads and pastries. The family operates Anita’s Home Bakeshop Inc.

December 12, 2017 marked another milestone for the Cabinians as Anita’s Home Bakeshop Inc. launched its newest and first-ever extension just adjacent to the bakeshop along the busy Osmeña Boulevard – Anita’s The Premium Store. 

Benjamin Cabinian, Anita’s Home Bakeshop Inc. CEO and general manager, had realized that, with the number of coffee shops and pastry stores springing up like clockwork, Cebuanos have developed quite sophisticated taste buds that make them rather difficult to please. He came to an epiphany that the family business too would have to step up – or it’s going to drown in the competition. 

And so Anita’s The Premium Store came to be, envisioned “to give more to our customers, since we have been here for a very long time – 49 years,” Cabinian says. The quality standards have gone up in keeping with the continuing grown of the Cebu market, he adds. “We always make sure that the products we bake and make is affordable to our customers.”

Regular and first-time customers would not fail to notice the new look. At Anita’s The Premium the usual red-and-yellow façade is beautifully contrasted with cool blue and white interiors. See-through display cabinets invitingly showcase the wide array of breads, cakes and pastries. In addition, the store also introduces various new products. 

Anita’s tagline is: “Redefining happiness with a piece of cake.” Sales operation manager Jill Chuntic vouches that patrons of the bakeshop who try and taste their cakes will crave for more with every bite.  The store’s signature chocolate cake is a must-try; its chocolaty goodness is definitely a notch better than the usual chocolate cake. The other top-sellers include a variety of cheesecakes like the oh-my-favorite Matcha Cheesecake, Ube Cheesecake, and Blueberry Cheesecake. 

Among its breads, the Spanish Bread no longer has the monopoly of customers’ praise. The newest addition of fresh-from-the-oven breads are quickly gaining customer attention too –especially the Hawaiian Bread and the ensaymada in cheese and ube flavors. 

“We don’t want to be known simply as the bakeshop that sells good Spanish Bread. We want to raise the standards be known for something more, especially from the millennial generation,” relates Benjamin Cabinian, who’s actually the son of the founder, Anita Cabinian. 

A former math teacher whose passion for baking was sparked by her aunt who taught her to bake at home, Anita opened her first bakeshop in 1968. The whole operation then consisted only of a small oven, the basic ingredients – and a big dream to become every generation’s bakery of choice.

Anita’s Home Bakeshop presently has 19 branches. And eight more stores are to open very soon. Anita’s The Premium store is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. – a nice place where to enjoy great breads and cakes and pastries over warm conversations with dear family and friends. (FREEMAN)