by Roger Pe
Business Mirror
August 27, 2017 issue
The world must know about Alfred Soriano-Micheau’s story. His is an
ingredient for a great book, an inspiring movie to watch, and his creations, so
delectable you could hear sweet magical music.
Born and raised in Manila, Alfred was given away when he was a
couple of months old because his mom was detained in Philippine Women’s
Correctional Institute.
“I graduated with flying colors from Pelaez Elementary School, a
public grade school,“ he begins telling his humble beginnings. As a salutatorian,
he earned a number of leadership and academic awards from Maceda Integrated
School, afterwhich, given a full scholarship to study in De La Salle College of
Saint Benilde. He took up Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management and that
led him to a bright path.
When he was seven years old, Alfred repacked and sold marshmallows,
candies, chocolates and chips. “Growing up from a family with meager income, I
knew that I have to help and work to survive while trying to finish my studies,”
he relates.
He tutored and helped his classmates with their assignments in
return for some money and food. When he was old enough to apply for a
professional job, he worked as a call center inbound sales representative for Sprint
and Verizon while also finishing his degree in college.
After college, he was given an opportunity to apply for an
international internship. “That was a turning point in my life. I flew to the
U.S. with a few dollars and loose change given by my family and friends. With
full determination to prove my worth and start a better life, I worked at the
Grand Hotel, a 5-diamond luxury resort in Mackinac Island, as a front desk
agent. I transferred to Ocean Reef Club, a private, luxury and members-only club
in Key Largo, Florida after 6 months and got promoted as front desk supervisor
and manager on duty. As part of my internship, I transferred to Park Hyatt in
Washington, D.C. and worked as a server in Blue Duck Tavern, a Michelin-star
casual fine dining restaurant in the nation’s capital.”
On September 2013, Alfred would meet the love of his life and get
married. He then decided to move to Charlevoix, Michigan to live with his
spouse. A couple of months after, they decided to open a home-based bakery and
named it “Cre8tive Cupcake”.
“We initially did small orders from locals and business owners
while sponsoring numerous non-profit organizations, clubs and being active in the
community.
Alfred and his spouse opened their storefront on April 2017. “I
started as a baker and owner. Here, I created a great team to serve locals and thousands
of tourists that visit Charlevoix every summer. We then realized the big
potential of our business in the wedding industry and started to penetrate the
market. After a year and a half, and with over 200 weddings, satisfied couples,
clients, customers and blessing from other business owners, chefs, mavericks of
the food industry, we decided to take the responsibility and named myself as Executive
Pastry Chef.”
Alfred patiently waited because he knew the responsibility that
came with it, and the hard work that he had to go through to take the position.
What made him decide to go into cupcake business?Here is a personal
interview on how his entrepreneurial streak has given him much excitement and
life-changing opportunities.
Growing up, I didn’t experience getting big cakes or even a cupcake
on most of my birthdays. It wasn’t a big deal at all. I always look back on
those days that I wished I had a chance to blow a candle on top of a cake for
my birthday. I believe a cupcake is more affordable than a big cake. Most
people can buy it. Stick a candle on top of it and make a celebration extra
special.”
“Cupcakes are handy, a finger food that there is no certain rule on
how to eat it. With this generation, everyone has his own food preference. Some
people like Vanilla, Chocolate, Red Velvet, Carrot, Peanut Butter, some wants
it gluten free, nut free, vegan and organic,” he says.
Cupcakes are also personal. Every single cupcake that I make is
made with love, hand-piped to perfection and well presented. It is something
that one can personally devour or be shared to the ones they love.”
Did you
make a market study before you went into this business?
“I learned in college the importance of market study and its
positive effect to any business. We absolutely did it before we decided to open
the storefront with a little twist.
Instead of doing a traditional market research, we did it by sponsoring
events, organizations, non-profit clubs and donating to the community. We also
did some random door-to-door and delivered for the community for their feedbacks.
Before we know it, people were ordering every week, asking us to consider
opening a storefront and providing us with help and tons of positive comments.
Today, “Cre8tive Cupcake” is a well-known brand in Northern
Michigan. Not only serving locals but also hundreds of thousands tourists that
visit our amazing town. I believe that it is a successful brand, a great
product, amazing business model, and a big part of the wedding industry in this
part of the world.
What
kind of cupcakes do you make? What’s so special about them?
“We proudly serve baked-fresh cupcakes everyday. We usually come to
the bakeshop at 5am to bake our cupcakes that are made from scratch using the
finest quality ingredients.
We use Madagascar Vanilla Bean, fresh and organic eggs, 100%
Butter, we do not use shortening on any of our creams, we also use 100% Dark
Chocolate from Belgium, our jams and fillings are all made from scratch on our
kitchen. We also do not serve frozen cupcakes and cakes. We know how important
for our clients to taste nothing but the best on the cupcake that they are
eating. In our bakeshop, we all believe that we are only as good as our last
performance so we have to give our best on every product that we make.
My personal favorite and one of our best sellers is our Strawberry
Shortcake. It is a Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cupcake filled with Home Made
Strawberry jam and topped with Light Strawberry Infused Home Made Whipped
Cream.
The other special and really a big hit for the kids is our build
your own cupcake, wherein we let kids and kids at heart to frost and decorate
their cupcakes.
What
market segment buys your product?
I would say majority of our clients are women, families with kids
and the youth. I honestly think that cupcakes target every one. No matter what
your race, gender, age or income. It is for everyone. For someone who is
celebrating a birthday, to a person who wants to surprise a loved one, to
family who want to treat the kids something sweet and to men who wanted a quick
sweet fix.
I have found that our storefront attracts the market and the people
we want to come in. When we had a crazier, feminine and bright colored paints,
a lot of kids came in as they like the ambience. When we toned it down and
added some rustic touch, more cozy and relaxing atmosphere, we attracted even
the male clients.
How do
you market them and create awareness?
I believe that we have a very unique and creative way of marketing
our products. One of which is sponsoring and donating to events, joining non-profit
organizations, and providing complimentary cupcakes during special local open
houses. On top of which, we are very active with our social media. We have a
great and informative website (www.cre8tivecupcake.com). On top of that we also have a really
interactive facebook and Instagram where we post our latest creations and
update about the business and our community.
Our clients also find us from different venues as a preferred
service provider and also being promoted by different restaurant and
businesses.
And most importantly we have a really good reputation so the most
powerful marketing tool for us is the word of mouth and recommendations from
our previous and current clients. We pride ourselves on not only providing
great tasting and aesthetically looking products but also exceeding our guest’s
expectations with out service and promptness.
What’s
your marketing style?
We are very flexible with our style. Varying from loud, colorful
and cheery to attract the youth. I even once wore a pink tuxedo and pink top
hat to promote our business and once wore a prince suit to an event. We also
have a subtle, relax and soft approach to attract men.
And for our brides, we have several sophisticated ways of promoting
and advertising to them. With cupcakes and cakes that we serve, we can be
quirky, crazy, fun, elegant, classy, refine, high end and extravagant. But what
we are always proud about is our sincere service in creating delectable
products.
How do you keep up with the best in your own product category?
I practice every day. After decorating cupcakes in the morning,
emailing our brides and following up with orders, I always make a time to watch
youtube videos. Search the newest trend in cupcakes, cakes and wedding designs
and flavors and not settle for less.
Do you
follow trends or you make your own product?
I get inspiration for some of the newest trends and use it to
better our existing products. Sometimes a lot of change can hurt the business
especially with food. I always keep everything simple and at the same time add
couple of flavors here and there so our tourists and locals can try them.
We have 15-20 flavors that are signature and what we serve daily
and we have specials to give a little twist to our foodies and food adventure
seekers.
If you
are going to advertise your product what would your unique selling proposition
be and why do you think your target market should buy them?
The strongest selling point of our products: They are baked fresh
on the day of the pick up. No matter how early or late the pick up will be, we
guarantee that it is fresh and we only use the freshest and best ingredients
available. We do not cut down on our ingredients even if the prices go up and
down. We use the same and do not settle for less. Every bite you will feel and
taste the difference and the love that we put on our cupcakes. It is absolutely
worth every penny.
