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A Glimpse into Cara De Ocampo’s Home and Corner Pantry

by Kevyn Gohu
December 14, 2021

One of The Corner Pantry’s founders, Cara De Ocampo, shares how she keeps Corner Pantry fresh and her home happy.

Cara De Ocampo, Founder of The Corner Pantry

Having picky eaters for kids is a frustration Cara de Ocampo’s familiar with. She understands how moms are always on a never-ending quest to have their kids eat healthier food. With a lot of research, hard work, and honest feedback from her family, Cara had to get creative with how to make her food look appealing and taste delicious to picky eaters, while keeping it healthy. Then, she and her business partner, Cathy Dizon Romualdez, founded The Corner Pantry. From breakfast staples to now over 100 delicious food products to choose from, Cara hopes to lighten the load on every mom’s attempt to get their kids to eat more but better.

Hands-on Mom in the Pantry and the Family

Running a home and raising a family gave Cara de Ocampo the detail-oriented approach she needed to run her business. Her personal experiences drives a lot of what comes out of The Corner Pantry. She stayed on top of its whole operations to create a customer experience that she herself would want. Her attention to detail helped her figure out what the customers wanted, especially during the lockdown. For her, customer satisfaction played the biggest role in Corner Pantry’s direction and progress.

Cara with her husband Leon and their son Lucas

“When we discovered that people missed a lot of their favorite food, we created new recipes every week. But, we also made sure that all the recipes being sold were served at our own tables,” says Cara. “From creating recipes, testing them, packing orders, sending them out, and social media management, Cathy and I made sure we personally handled each of the orders to make sure our clients get nothing but the best.”

Spice and sweeten up your salad with The Corner Pantry’s Mango Ginger Miso Dressing

Kids’ usual fave Japanese treats: Chicken Teriyaki, Chicken Karaage, and Beef Yakiniku

Time to cool off with the Creamy Coffee Jelly or the Mango Tapioca delight

Chicken Patties for lunch then Banana Bread and Fudge Brownie Bits for dessert

No secret ingredient, just hard work and persistence

Running a business during the pandemic was already hard. Keeping it afloat makes it extra difficult, especially when competition appears. A lot of food suppliers sprouted to answer families’ demands to taste their favorite recipes again. But coming up with ways to keep one’s food business noticeable meant there would be hits and misses. Cara de Ocampo knew that there really wasn’t any secret to keeping The Corner Pantry alive. It just took a lot of hard work and persistence.

“There is really no secret except to keep working hard and trying. I’ve had my fair share of bad business decisions but experience makes you grow. You’ll never know if something will work out unless you give it a try, so take calculated risks! I always try to stay optimistc. Failure is not always negative as long as you learn from your mistakes,” shares Cara.

Corner Pantry’s a Delicate Recipe of Balance and Delegation

Cara de Ocampo with her husband, Leon de Ocampo, and her son, Lucas

Cara’s recipe of being The Corner Pantry’s super mompreneur needs a delicate balance of self-care, delegation, and involvement. Some of her strategies had to change such as letting her son, Lucas, become more independent. There was also delegation and creating a capable staff to support her.

In the process of learning how to be more hands-on, Cara also learned how to be hands-off. It was to make sure she recharges before returning to help moms deal with their picky eaters through The Corner Pantry. Learn more about them on Instagram to find foods that even picky eaters won’t say no to.