For years, husband & wife Jp & Jomai Arnaiz have always wanted to put up their own business. Jp was the Assistant Mall Manager of SM Baguio while Jomai was a wedding & event planner. This is where her interest in food trucks stemmed from.
They started asking city hall regarding permits and licensing back in 2018 but always ended up being looked at like mad scientists. Nobody believed in the concept. Which, they found quite odd because they knew they’ve seen food trucks in the city before but just never stayed long.
Until MARCH 2020. Covid 19 happened. Pandemic lockdowns came about. Jomai had to leave for the states to take care of her terminally ill uncle who took care of her since pretty much birth. While Jp stayed in the Philippines & continued working. It all seemed like the business plans again, were hopeless.
But when Jomai’s uncle died, she came back home and she was just more driven than ever as she knew events were at a standstill. Seeing her colleagues doing sideline jobs by selling food etc, that's when they decided to create a food truck FOR RENT. For the purpose of letting her colleagues rent out the truck maximum of 2mths each so that they can have ample time to earn while the pandemic was still on.
They figured too—hey, nobody’s done this yet. They both believed it would be something. And they both loved the idea of being able to help others.
So off they went to city hall. Over prepared and with cue cards ready for retaliation. But then, when they pitched their idea, they were REQUESTED BY THE CITY TO HELP WITH THE AMBULANT VENDORS INSTEAD. The Arnaiz’s were excited. They presented the rental to the vendors however the park vendors couldn't grasp the concept of the food truck yet. And so, this is where YOLK WAS CONCEPTUALIZED. They needed a case study so that the vendors can see the potential of the food truck business.
Being in events, Jomai had a knack for researching and getting a feel of what could work and what’s relatable and appealing to the market. During the pandemic, she noticed that people LOVED K DRAMA’S AND ANYTHING ELSE KOREAN. She loved the Egg Drop concept of South Korea. Luckily enough, her brother Jonas also finished culinary courses and his passion was really food. So it just all came together—-the TASTE, THE LOOK, THE FEEL AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THE VIBE OF YOLK was created.
From there it just was a roller coaster of blessings. And they kept their promise to help the displaced ambulant park vendors. They came up with an “Adopt- a- Vendor” scheme, wherein the ambulant vendors will set up shop around the truck. (Kind of like a food hub/park) But looking more dignified. Donned in proper uniform, hairnets, kiosks, closed shoes, and following all IATF protocols. Plus, Yolk also aims to promote our City Parks. After all, it was them who took a chance on the idea.
Yolk is a living example that we can all just get up and punch this pandemic in the face. And proof that we all have what it takes to be resilient.
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