A pink box full of treats

(Contributed photo)
(Contributed photo)

Her family has a history of diabetes, but Anna Katrina Sarraga did not let this fact stop her from doing what she loves the most: baking.

For Sarraga, baking is something fun and calming. Her love for baking started when she was a kid as she used to go to her grandmother's house where the two of them bake together.

“Yung baking was just really a hobby. It comes from both sides of my family, especially my mom's side. So when I was a kid, I used to go to my lola's house and we bake together. So I was like 'I wanna do this again.' So I did it,” Sarraga said.

Sarraga used to work in a bank for four and a half years before she decided to resign in 2012.

According to her, some family circumstances came about that gave her the opportunity to work at home.

Thus, in 2013, she started baking again. She never went to school for baking so her skills came from experience and learning from her grandmother, YouTube videos and experimenting.

On the same year, she established her own home-based business, The Pink Box, as she began accepting orders from clients. It was only recently that she started taking orders for dessert buffet.

“I don't want to brag, but a lot of people have said already na so far everything is good, I haven't failed anyone yet, I hope,” Sarraga said.

“Passion and love are really put in the baking when I do it. I always tell myself, even if this is just the budget of the client, I don't want to fail the client in terms of quality and quantity,” she added.

The Pink Box, its name coined from Sarraga's love for the color pink, offers various baked goodies such as cookies, bars, cupcakes, cheesecakes, loaves, among others.

A box of chocolate chip cookies (30 pieces inside) costs P330; the bars (mango bars, s'mores bars, chantily bars) costs around P370 to 700 per box (36 pieces); a box of classic brownies, 36 pieces inside, is worth P370; while the walnut brownies, the same number of pieces, is worth P470.

“Sometimes some people say I'm a bit pricey with some of my products, but I always say that it doesn't matter if it’s really pricey, as long as they know that the quality is good,” Sarraga said.

“I can always assure my clients that when it comes to ingredients, everything is of quality. I always choose the best. I don't go for the commercialized products which a lot of people do,” she added.

With how successful she is in her job, one might think that her determination and perseverance came to be because baking has been her dream. However, that is not the case.

“My dream job really is to be an event organizer. But looking at all the event organizers and all the hustle and bustle tapos attending weddings, tapos you see that its usually the organizer who has all the stress, I'm like 'No, I can't do that,'” Sarraga shared.

She added that she wanted to try something that doesn't require much stress and she found it in baking.

“The baking actually gives me some sense of zen. Sometimes it’s calming. I like to bake,” she said.

Just like every business, she also had her fair share of problems and challenges; in her case, its time and manpower.

“I don't have much staff yet. Sometimes I borrow the staff from the house, that's what I usually do. Right now I have one who really assists me in the baking kasi its only if may nag order, I don’t make it a full time thing,” Sarraga said.

She said her lack of manpower became a huge problem during December as it’s the month when she receives several orders from clients.

It is also the time when she experiences lack of sleep as she only gets around 2 hours of sleep everyday.

“Sometimes mag sleep ako 5 a.m. and I wake up again 7 a.m. just to catch up with all the orders because a lot of people order for corporate guests, yung ipang give away for Christmas,” she said.

But these do not stop her from enjoying her job and coming out of it with something to learn about.

“I'm learning something new every season, every Christmas, I learn something new na 'Oh, I need to fix this next year so that it can be faster, etc.' I try to meet what I need to fix every season,” Sarraga said.

Sarraga also shared her plan to establish a cafe and making it a full time work.

“As of now, I don't have the time for it yet because it needs full time work, I need to be there 100 percent and at the moment, hindi pa kaya. For now, sideline muna,” she said.

Clients will also have something to look forward to in the near future as Sarraga also plans to add some items on her dessert menu such as vegan, gluten-free desserts, allergy-friendly desserts, and lactation treats for moms.

“I'd like to add, not soon yet, but I'm still experimenting,” Sarraga said.

Interested customers can contact The Pink Box for orders via its Facebook page, Instagram page (@thepinkboxbts) and through its mobile number: 0945-413-9846.

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