The Birth of Ken Dough Magic Kaffei

Ken Dough Magic Kaffei is our family owned restaurant in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte Philippines. We opened July 2007 and it has been a great experience.

This is the short cut version of how we got there:

My family used to operate a bakery that my father started in our garage. It was propbably the first business venture that we took on as a family. My mom quit her job when she got pregnant with me and my father decided to start a bakery. The comapny name was Farmbake and our brand name at that time was Grandma's Best. The bakery was located in Tahanan Village in Sucat Paranaque until we found a bigger place because our employees reached 200 people in the late 80's. Business was good but we were greatly affected by the Asian Economic crisis in the late 90's, coupled with problems from our employees, my father decided to close down the company.

My parents went on to venture into other businesses, like operating a piggery, waste disposal management, manufacturing electrical savers, perfumes, ampalaya capsules, and many more but none of the ventures lasted or had a big impact on us like the bakery that we once had.
We still had an old oven left in our garage during the "golden years" of our bakery so my mom decided to bake cookies and fruitcakes during the holidays because that's what we know best and sure enough, even though it's seasonal, it brought in much needed cash. My siblings and I helped baked, packed, and sell our baked goods. It was literally a family business.

When we finished using our old packaging with the Grandma's Best logo, we found out that someone else have already reserved the name in SEC (securities and exchange commission). So rather than be disappointed we decided to change it to Ken Dough Magic. This was back in 2003, so we made a blue and gold sticker design with a fairy in it and used that in our packaging. It was actually great business but again it only came in the last quarter of the year.

When my father had a heart attack in 2006, I was already scheduled to go to China to manage a manufacturing plant for Liwayway Marketing Corp. (makers of OISHI snack food). Since we needed the money and being the eldest of 4 children, we decided that I go to China. My Father recovered from his surgery and my mom decided go back to her roots and bring my dad to the province in Dipolog City. There my mom and sister worked in my grandmother's hardware store while my father rested. But a heart attack couldn't keep my father from being restless and he just had to scratch that entreprenuerial itch. So as a family we decided to go back to what we know best, and that is FOOD.

And that was when Ken Dough Magic Kaffei was born.