they didn’t know it would change their lives forever.
Everyone was caught off guard by the news, but also a tiny bit relieved, because hey, at least Chocolate Kiss would still be operating for delivery – the Devil’s Food Cake would still be within reach! However, a year later, the cafe announced that it would beand in August 2021, Chocolate Kiss finally blew its very last goodbye kiss.
In the 1980s, The Chocolate Kiss Home-baked Delights was incorporated. This was no longer just a hobby, but an official business now; Maline, who was a full-time accountant at the time, opened her kitchen to Alma, who was also her next-door neighbor. From there, the sisters worked flexibly and together. Business was doing so well, that the sisters were able to set up their first baking facility, with financial help from mother Irma.
It took more than a decade until Chocolate Kiss was offered their first “commercial big break.” In 1996, Maline and Alma, who were already well-known in their circles for their baking prowess, received an invite to bid for an empty coffee shop space at the University of the Philippines Alumni Association’s Ang Bahay ng Alumni building. “Upon seeing the size of the space, my mom knew that selling cakes alone would not be sustainable.
“My mom and aunt kept a good eye on what came out of the kitchen. They treated the dining room as if they were entertaining guests in their own homes. Their meticulousness worked, I suppose, because customers from all sorts of backgrounds visited, and kept coming back,” Ina added. It didn’t take long for the UP community to acknowledge Chocolate Kiss as “part of UP,” said Ina, especially since they were already very welcoming from the start. In less than a year after the opening, The Chocolate Kiss was being mentioned by campus publications and freshmen primers of not just UP, but also of Ateneo’s and Miriam’s. Newspapers also began hailing it as a “hidden gem” to check out in the Diliman area.
Chocolate Kiss’ UPTC branch received “great reception” once it opened on the third floor of the neighborhood shopping complex; it was strategically located along a corridor with heavy foot traffic. However, the struggle of “strong competition” took over in 2019, and the branch had to close down in May.
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