Larry Cortez was one half of the Chefs Quarter Group duo. Alongside the late Mau Arjona, he co-owned a chain of restaurants, including Kuse, Beurre Blanc, Old Vine, Larry and Mau, and Uncle Cheffy. I managed the publicity for all these brands from 2010 until around 2012.
Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with Larry. He shared details about the venture he established in 2017 called Chefs Arcor Kitchen, the company behind Super Bagnet, popular for its deep-fried crispy pork belly. The food business expanded to over 50 franchises in just three years. However, the consecutive adversities of the African swine fever in 2019 and the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 made it challenging for Super Bagnet to stay afloat.
During the pandemic, they pivoted to supplying packed meals to quarantine facilities, often churning out orders for up to 8,000 persons a day. When the restrictions were lifted, they continued to deliver to schools, offices, and events. To date, Chefs Arcor Kitchen has served more than a million packed meals. They’ve gained extensive experience in high-volume production, packaging, and distribution. Their meals are hygienically prepared, delicious, and affordable.
The next step is to make these meals available for retail purchase.
Larry is working on putting up integrated establishments that combine a food store, restaurant, convenience store, and food mart under one entity. These will be branded as Chefs Arcor Kitchen 24/7 Food Mart and strategically located in high traffic areas within the business districts of NCR. He is offering a very special and attractive joint venture deal for the first five investors of P3.5 to 5 million.
The idea is for these outlets to carry the dishes frozen. Upon order, each dish will be microwaved and served with warm freshly cooked rice for as low as P45 per set. It’s a food business that eliminates all the complicated elements. Since there’s no cooking involved, there’s also no need for purchasing, inventory and storage of ingredients, and large kitchen equipment. There’s no need for a chef either! As long as you have a microwave and rice cooker and know how to use them, you’re good to go.
The variety of dishes is extensive. I was shown a partial list – bopis, estofado, sisig, chicken inasal, chicken teriyaki. pork steak Tagalog, pork strip salpicao, roast pork with mushroom sauce, laing, mongo. I tried some and they were all very yummy. Definitely a far cry from the microwaved meals currently available in convenience stores. It’s restaurant quality at carinderia prices.
If you would like to talk business with Larry Cortez. Message him at lfc.superbagnet@gmail.com. When it comes to growing money, you can trust him. He started his career as a janitor, security guard, and dishwasher. From there, he climbed the food and beverage industry ladder and worked as a manager in fine dining restaurants. Eventually, he became a successful entrepreneur and now has numerous investments and properties to his name.
To know more about Chefs Arcor Kitchen or to order packed meals, go to @ChefsArcorKitchen on Facebook.
All images are from Chefs Arcor Kitchen and Larry Cortez
