Message from our Founder

Hello, my name is Carmela Bautista and I’m the creator of KombeeNation. I was born and raised in Bacolod City, Philippines and grew up from a family of entrepreneurs. In 1973, my grandfather  opened one of the first grocery stores in Bacolod, called Capitol Supermart. There, I first learned that if you have quality products and great customer relationships, you will surely thrive in the business world.

My mother also owned a coffee shop called – Yummy Yummy. If you were born and raised in Bacolod during 1970’s to the year 2000’s, you will surely remember this happy place. There, she popularized delicious meals, snacks and pastries such as Lumpiang Ubod, Halfmoon Cake, Pizza and Barbecue that generations after generations have loved, which also became staple food in many Filipino homes today. She educated me that when you use quality ingredients in your recipe, half of the battle has already been won. She’s the type that won’t buy a $50 dress but will pay $50 for a pound of the best quality meat. That’s how passionate she is with food and cooking.

Moving to the US has opened my palette to different cuisines but nothing beats the taste of home. With the value of business I inherently learned from my family and my love affair with chicken inasal that has never left me, I started experimenting on local ingredients and created my own.  It took me 15 years and consumed a few hundred pounds of chicken to finally hit the correct kombeenation (combination), which I am very excited to share with you!

My mission is to bring joy to your table and recreate new memories of old cuisines for future generations. I hope that our recipe blends will bring simple and warm happiness to your home. 

Kabay na mabulong namon ang inyo kahidlaw (We hope to cure your homesickness!).

Salamat gid (Thank you)!

Siempre,

Carmela