“When I started planning my wedding after I got engaged in March 2018, my partner and I visited a bridal fair hoping to find an elegant bar service for weddings,” begins Dadivas. “To my disappointment, I didn’t find one.” This was when he realized the bar industry may have gotten stuck on the same concepts over the years—and the field was wide open for something fresh. Someone merely had to seize the opportunity. Earlier that same year, coincidentally, the young visionary got his introduction to mixology. He figured that someone could be him.
This is how Manila Craft Mixes & Brews was born.
Just the Right Mix
Dadivas went straight to work, fueled by all the possibilities his new business could open up. What kept him motivated through the various exciting stages of discovery was his curiosity.
The first-time entrepreneur was eager to find ways of providing exceptional service at weddings; he was curious about which drinks would be memorable enough to go hand-in-hand with these once-in-a-lifetime events. (He likes to put it this way: “At parties, most people remember two things: how much fun they had and the drinks they had.) Lastly, he was curious about creating and defining success for himself. “My parents were entrepreneurs, too, so the environment I grew up in was very dynamic,” shares Dadivas. “My upbringing, [then] my college years and my working years as a hotelier were always about having your A-game with you and being proactive.”
Indeed, lessons learned through his career in hospitality were his guiding light for Manila Craft. One of these lessons? To put the guest experience above everything else. “It may sound simple, but it’s more than providing exceptional service,” explains Dadivas. Being attuned to guest preferences and adjusting to them accordingly is the subtle yet impactful skill he and his team have acquired; it’s the glue that holds together their quality drinks and the elegant setup Manila Craft has become known for.
While Manila Craft bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a startup just about to gain momentum when it hit, Dadivas and his team present a hopeful bounce-back story. Today, at 29, he runs Manila Craft with his best friend and business partner, Karlo Aquino, along with a full team. They’ve gone on to cater for premier events, luxe gatherings, and celebrity weddings. Name a special occasion and know it can be elevated with Manila Craft, where the art of hospitality and the art of mixology meet.
A Refreshing New Experience
For Dadivas, grounding any ambition with his main purpose was crucial to starting Manila Craft on the right foot. He quips: “We stick to our values and do things with intent.” He knew that setting oneself apart in the industry, another goal for any business, would only follow and flow after this.
Every drink on the menu, which features Manila Craft Signatures & Classics, is decided on with intention.
“We try to simplify things as much as possible,” says Dadivas. “The love for our original menu has been tremendous, so most of our clients choose the same thing over and over.” And after the mastery of these mainstay items comes the other fun part: “We roll out event specials and off-menu cocktail selections to spice things up,” he adds. “We constantly have new, unreleased recipes we slowly bring out.”
And now, the company has piqued the interest of more of (and beyond) Manila. Dadivas shares excitedly that more and more beach and out-of-town weddings are in the cards for Manila Craft in 2023.
Getting a Taste of the Manila Craft Experience
Successfully staying on the pulse of what works, Dadivas faces off today with a rather happy problem in the biz: finding out how to expand his team to meet the hot demand for his business.
“Another thing [we need] is to have better-scheduled rest days,” he admits, humbly, referencing the kind of grind and sacrifices he and his team had to make to keep Manila Craft going during the pandemic. “[Better rest days mean] we can really collect ourselves and regroup. We also have to prioritize constant training since our team is growing drastically to maintain consistency in our services.”
For Dadivas, success is not an end goal but a “great and continuous progress.” And in relishing in this progress, he sees great things ahead: being able to solidify Manila Craft’s place on the map of the Philippine bar industry and one day – cater to international events, taking Manila Craft global. As Dadivas envisions it: “Would love Manila Craft to be a generational business and, as always, continue our dedication to [values, intent, and purpose].”
Indeed, cheers to that.
Have a drink or two of Jeffrey Davidas’ creations. Get in touch through his Instagram and Manila Craft
—alike.com.ph
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