Despite being a coffee lover, never in his life had engineer Neil Arquero planned of owning a coffee business and starting a journey in the food industry—but fate has other plans. The pandemic started, life happened, and the next thing he knew, he was already planning for the opening of Kape Karpintero, which was inspired by his carpenter-father’s passion, workmanship, and determination.
That time, Neil, who had been thinking of starting a business, was overseeing the construction of his family’s house when he got a glimpse of the hardworking carpenters building their dream home. He suddenly thought of his father, Nestor, and the latter’s fellow carpenters; how they create big things from scratch, how they master their craft to bring ideas and dreams to life.
“Inspired by the workmanship, passion, and dedication that his father and the other carpenters put to their craft, their tiredness alleviated by a simple cup of coffee, Kape Karpintero was born. With every cup freshly handcrafted with passion, just like in carpentry,” Neil’s girlfriend and co-owner Cristen Gabriel said in an exclusive interview with Traffic Digest.
Cristen, who handles Kape Karpintero’s sales and marketing, has been passionately working with Neil, who handles the business’ total operations.
“We officially opened in October last year as an online coffee shop. No physical store, sa bahay lang sa Cainta. No dine, only take-out/pick-up. We wanted to renovate Neil’s Family’s sari-sari store into a small coffee shop but we didn’t have the time and money to do so,” she recalled.
“We started with few drinks: Americano, Spanish Latte, Hazelnut Mocha, Caramel Machiatto, Caramel Latte, and Premium Cocoa. We offered kakanins like puto and kutsinta para mas Pilipino ang menu pero ayaw din namin mawala ‘yong coffee shops’ fave na dark chocolate chip cookies kaya we also have this in our menu,” she went on.
From being an “online coffee shop”, Kape Karpintero has been serving their food and drinks for quite a while now during events, setting up a mobile coffee cart and having some personalized cups and packages for their clients.
“Papa and tito ni Neil gumawa ng mobile cart namin,” Cristen shared.
At present, the couple is focusing on their online business and event invitations, preparing every cup with love and planning to stay hands-on no matter what.
“Since nagka-work si Neil last December and I’m also working na rin as consultant. Isinantabi muna namin ‘yong dream namin to have our own physical store. Ayaw din namin na hindi kami at ibang tao ang mag-o-operate o bantay ng magiging coffee shop just in case,” the girl boss noted.
Those who want a cup of Kape Karpintero or planning to have its coffee cart on special occasions may contact Neil and Cristen on their Facebook and Instagram accounts (@kape-karpintero) or send an e-mail at kapekarpintero@gmail.com.
“Ang aming kape ay para sa lahat at higit pa rito, ito ay kapeng abot kaya ngunit pinaghusay ang paggawa,” Cristen expressed.
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