In the midst of The Great Lockdown, plenty of “quarantine babies”—as what business owners call their businessess—were born.
Many individuals have risen to the occasion by turning their hobbies into sources of income. However, as quarantine restrictions eased, some businesses stopped operating as well. Others, however, continue to grow.
Such was the case for Benjamins’, one of the fastest growing food and milk tea businesses in Cebu offering a variety of kimchi fusion snacks and meals, and flavorful drinks from milk and fruit teas to coffee.
The business is owned by cousins Edrosel, Ma. Fe, Genes, Cherry, Jane Noreen, Joelina Mae, Joeline, Petchie and Jogie, who each contributed P500 to start the business. The cousins had a goal: Earn extra income and help one another most especially during the pandemic.
With the total amount of P4,500 as capital, they started selling their version of a delectable kimchi fried rice that, according to Ma. Fe, “even non-kimchi lovers loved.”
Later on, they launched other products to their customers who were mostly their neighbors. There’s the Chi Dawg, a kimchi-infused hotdog sandwich; Benjamin Klubs and Benjamin Bacon Rice.
“A month later, even the people who were not our neighbors looked for our products and asked if we could also serve refreshments. From there, we decided to venture on to drinks. After several tea-tasting and research, we introduced our BBT (Benjamins Bubble Tea). Since then, we have kept growing and fast-forward to today, we now have seven branches,” said Ma. Fe.
From a home-based online business, Benjamins’—named after the cousins’ late grandfather—is now in Poblacion and Starmall in Talisay City, UCLM in Mandaue, SWU in Urgello, Tisa Labangon, Badian and Consolacion.
Since going out is still not safe, Benjamins’ accepts orders online. Check out its Facebook page: Benjamins’. It is also available on Foodpanda.