A brief moment down memory lane

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This comment from certain Lanie got my attention:
"sinabi mo pa dito nga dati iyang si artscooking sa riyadh eh. before ang name na gamit niya Ken-ken catering Services if i am not mistaken.laki na ng pinagbago ng set up niya. nagulat nga me at meron na pala siya blogspot now.good for him at nag succeed na pala siya sa business niya po. lanie"
Upon reading this (on a previous post), a rush of memory came to me.

Sometime in 2005, in Riyadh, I was once asked to cater a baptism event. If my memory serves me right, it consisted of 8 menu meal designed for 70 pax. I was a start-up caterer then doing business under the name of 'ken-ken's catering services (inspired by the name of my daughter). The hostess of the event, Lanie, upon learning that I had no food warmer to put the different menu but a measly softdrink cartons wrapped in foil, vehemently expressed her disgust.
I remember her saying that since I do business of catering, it is assumed that I should have those facilities. I was stunned then. I may have perhaps shortsighted things. Because at that time I felt catering is all about good food, and making people happy by taking out from them the difficulty of food preparation. Other than those two, I thought, everything comes after.
Nevertheless, I said sorry. Things did not come out as she expected.
But taking the event with a grain of salt, I still thank Lanie nevertheless. Her disgust may have provided me a moment of sadness. But that sadness proved to be what I needed to re-think my stand in the catering community. Her comments woke me to the reality, that 'a truly service oriented business should go beyond expectation and not fall short of it.'

This is why we allow reactions in this blog (except not related), and we solicit comments from our clients after every catering. This we believe is the way we grow, and this is the way we serve you better.
To the readers of this blog and to our good-natured clients, we wish to impart a message of hope, a message of firm determination, that if you want to achieve something, against all odds, by all means, get it.

Cheers!





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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Natuwa naman ako sa blog mo.Nag start pala ang artscooking sa dating name na Ken-Ken Catering Services.So you mean to say ang artscooking bale matagal na pala siyang nag exist.Ganun naman talaga sa business nag start sa maliit from cartoon to food warmer.Im happy for you at unti unti mo nararating ang gusto mo sa buhay mo.As usual heto na naman po ang iyong ate Olivia nagsasabi sa inyo na more and more variances pa sana ang i offer ninyo sa kliyente ninyo.

Anonymous said...

Greetings!i was on the link ng samahan ng kababayan sa saudi arabia na get lang ng attention ko ang blog mo.Meron palang ganun na kuwento nice story naman pala.Tingnan mo nga naman magagawa ng internet kung saan saan nakakarating ang opinion ng bawat isa sa atin.Personally di mo ako kilala at di rin kita kilala.Go on bro more and more at sana pa lumaki ang catering services mo.The way yuo present your food for sure na madami magkaka gusto sa services ninyo.Nabasa ko ng mga comment feeling ko nagbabasa ako ng news paper eh.Maganda ang naisip mo na i blog lahat ng na cater mo.atleast nakikita mo ang progress.Larry

Dubai - 0971500715379

Anonymous said...

Hi, Art musta na ?Long time of silence na wala ako balita sa iyo until nakita ko blog mo sa face book.Nagulat ako at meorn ka na pala sariling catering.Na apply mo din natutunan mo sa Triple V Company and Kamayan.Nakakatuwa nga naman at nag venture ka na ng sarili mong business diyan at sa ibang bansa pa.Kaya pala wala me balita sa iyo.Dito lang pala kita matunton.It's been almost 15 years na.Alam mo ba na 1 time nagbukas kami ng resto sa province hanap nga kita.Gusto ko sana pa manage sa iyo iyong business namin sa cebu.Kaya lang walang makpagsabi kung asan ka na.Now we are here in Illinois for 4 years now.I have 2 daughters now.O panu e-mail na lang kita privately.Good luck sa new venture mo.God bless us.Ate marie

Anonymous said...

Suggestion ko lang sana mas gandahan pa ninyo ang services ninyo sa client.Mahigpit ang competition now a days kaya you have to do it na kakaiba.Madali makapunta sa taas pero mag maintain ng client mahirap.Erick of Singapore

TheMorningAfter said...

Art,
Your blogspot has indeed gone a long way and so has the business. Just a suggestion, for someone new to your blogspot its difficult to find where to make reservations ( and only thru your partner "in crime" did I know that we were supposed to go into the last article's comment section to do that). Well if its a new prospective client looking at your blogspot for the first time, I suggest a simple note to direct them to proceed to the comment section to make their reservations. Another thing, for people who do not know the celebrants, its also good to mention they are siblings of these and that...I used to read that before from your articles, maybe its just a matter of putting it back. It also helps increase your network of clientelle and people who can readily contact you. Some of us still prefer the human "touch" over the cyber space and cp geeks. Cheers! Jun-ALJCO

Anonymous said...

Tama nga naman sila dapat anjan na lahat ng mga menu ninyo.Ang hirap kasi maghanap ba.tsaka suggestion din sana meron din kayo downloading para madali makapg order.
Larry