Not every food brand starts with a business plan. Some start with a family recipe that’s too good to keep to yourself. That’s exactly how Hinam Hinam Cebu began.
For owner Dianne Espera, it all starts at home. “I love the fact that I am able to share my mom’s homemade recipes with everyone, because we’ve been enjoying these desserts at home, and it’s high time everyone gets to try how really good they are,” she says.
What began as something familiar within the family now moves across different spaces in the city, reaching customers who connect with the same taste and comfort.
That sense of familiarity shapes everything about how the products are made and served. “We take pride that we are a home-grown brand showcasing well-loved Filipino desserts and giving our customers the ultimate premium experience by making sure our products are always freshly made and extra generous with the servings,” Espera explains.
The standard is personal before it becomes public. “If we don’t enjoy it at home, we won’t sell it,” she adds.
Customers feel that. “I want people to feel happy when they see and taste our products,” she says. The response she hears most often says something about how the brand lands. “It feels like it’s made by mama,” she shares, a description that ties the desserts to something more than just a good serving size, though that part matters too.
The brand grows through movement. “Joining various events around the city gives us a dynamic playground to interact with new and old customers,” Espera explains.
Photo: Hinam Hinam Cebu
Each pop-up brings a different setting, from school grounds to office spaces, where the team meets customers face to face. Loyal ones follow the brand from one event to the next. New ones try it and come back. “Customers who simply love good quality food keep coming back to us,” she says. “Customers who are very satisfied with the products automatically become our endorsers.” Word of mouth carries the brand into celebrations and everyday moments alike.
It didn’t start with certainty. “The biggest challenge was finding the right market,” Espera shares, recalling how Hinam Hinam Cebu began with online orders before moving into physical setups. The team used carts to test different areas, tracking where demand held and adjusting as they learned. Each location added to their understanding of where the brand fits.
Today, the focus stays clear: fresh fruit desserts and drinks, built on the same standards set at the beginning. The setup shifts from one pop-up to the next, but the experience doesn’t. Full servings, familiar flavors, and a growing group of customers who keep showing up for both.
Photography Kyrra Kho
