Maricar Reyes’ “addiction” to chocolates has yielded another achievement.

Maricar Reyes

After almost four years of doing business online and on bazaars, the actress finally opened her own chocolate cake stall inside a mall in Mandaluyong.

“I’m so happy! It’s really fulfilling and humbling to see this stall,” she said in an interview there.

Maricar’s creation is famous for its high-quality chocolate bonbons with swift kick of red wine. And, no need to guess, she calls it “choco liquor cakes.”

Many of her customers describe it as “a good balance of flavors” and “melts in your mouth” — never nakakaumay.

The business is in her namesake as she believes it reflects her personality: nothing too fancy, purely quality.

“My husband (singer Richard Poon) and I kasi, that’s how we work – low-key lang kami. But we’re professional and we just let what we do speak for itself.”

Team effort
Her signature creation has enjoyed a sort of cult following since people learned about it. So, why only now did she put up a physical store?

“I consulted my mentor din kasi and he advised me na there are certain numbers you have to achieve before you expand. You need to have a fan base, not because of me as an artista but the cake itself,” she explained.

“I believe we already achieved and a lot of customers na rin are asking where they could find us. So finally, we decided na this is the first time to have a store that’s accessible to costumers.”

Following the business’ tagline “make people feel special,” Maricar said she couldn’t have done it without her team.

“I believe if you’re good at what you do, you can go a long way. But if you want to succeed, you need to have good people too,” she said.

The 38-year-old credited Richard, whose family is also into the food business.

“He’s my food taster!” she shared.

Asked for advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, she said: “1. Don’t get excited to expand. 2. Find the right people who will help you. 3. Find yourself a mentor.”