Conductress of ‘Symphony of Desserts’ has nice problem

Chocolates, cakes, pastries and other mouth-watering desserts

When Marge J. San Diego studied at the Isabel Center for Asian Culinary Studies in San Juan, Metro Manila, she won a bronze medal in the pastry division. And that was when she had a Joycean epiphany: She realized that pastries would be her professional focus from now on, following the failure of her Asian food restaurant in San Juan city.

This time she went back to her nearby hometown in Plaridel, Bulacan, and decided to open a home-based business specializing in cakes, pastries, chocolates, cookies and all those other mouth-watering goodies loved by people with sweet tooth. Marge named the service “Sweet Indulgence” but was informed by the Department of Trade & Industry that, sorry, there is another company by that name.

And so, in a flash of inspiration, the food entrepreneur being a music lover, came up with the more poetic name “Symphony of Desserts” (tel. 044-7950170; [email protected]).

Soon the venture grew by word of mouth, endorsements by friends and relatives, text orders and the social media like Facebook. She was supplying the pastries (“dessert buffet”) to coffee shops in Bulacan (Baliuag, Plaridel and Malolos City) and she also had clients in Manila, although the delivery charge could sometimes be a problem.

Marge also caters to social events like weddings and baptisms, “and I would design it in such a way that it would match the event.”

Best-selling products include the Caramel Symphony Cake, or moist chocolate cake with caramel icing; the Jazzberry (blueberry) Cheese Cake; and the Soulful Choco Cake, or moist chocolate with cake, mocha filling and chocolate fudge icing.

Entrepreneur Marge San Diego

The petite baker chef also boasts of a so-called Revel Medley Bar, consisting of an oatmeal bar with walnuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips. “I think I sold one thousand bars last year,” she says.

A new challenge awaits her. At the urging of friends, she is opening a stall at the Robinsons Summit Building along Ayala Ave., Makati City, which will be in business for five days every month.

Business, Marge says, “is OK, doing great, with some months better than others. With the ‘ber months’ things start picking up, and the peak months are December and January.” But competition has grown with the number of home-based bakers.

“Everybody now wants to bake,” she notes. “You have to have the edge, a different edge, and maintain the quality of your products. I’m happy I have regular clients.”

Friends have been encouraging her to put up a bakeshop in Metro Manila. She has not said no as she adopts a cautious view.

“I need more experience,” the young entrepreneur concludes. “I’m happy na ganito (like this) but I have to learn more, to study, to be perfect in everything. To put up my own shop, I have to be 100 percent ready. In God’s time…”