We had the good fortune of connecting with Kert Lasdoce and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kert, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It was orignally a way for us to share our love of food and wanting other people to experience it. Overtime it has transformed into bringing happiness in everyone who tries any of our products.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m the Chef and Co-founder of The Boiis Co. It’s a Filipino owned mochi bakery that is based in New York City. We specialize in mochi related desserts and pastries. We are a boot strapped business that started in our home kitchen and have grown so much through doing pop-ups throughout New York and out of state as well. The year 2021 is where our growth spurt came in as we were featured by Eater NY, TIME OUT NY and NBC. This made us make the necessary decision to move our operation to a commercial kitchen. In 2022 is where we really found our niche market and this is the Union Square Holiday Market.

Along the way before finding out where we are strong at, a lot of mistakes have been made. I could not tell you how much sleepless nights we had. Sacrifices were made missing out on some occasions and holidays. Financial pitfalls, trial and errors until we finally get the sweet spot. If anything that stuck out on what’s a lesson to take from this is to seek help. Connect with people who have done this already or people who are currently trying to figure it out. You will be surprised how much other people are willing to help and impart their knowledge.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them on a long walk along Manhattan, going around Chelsea by the High Line and come down by West Village. Grab an iced coffee around one of the local coffee shops and walk all the way to the East Village to eat at this hole in the wall izakaya restaurant named “Oh Taisho” in St. Marks. It has always been my staple for eating grilled chicken skins, drinking beer and having a good laugh. For Dessert, we’ll grab one cream puffs from Beard Papa’s and take another long stroll towards the Williamsburg Bridge.

At the end of the walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn, we’ll grab a slice of pizza from my favorite place called “L’industrie” and finish off with a bowl of ramen from Ichiran.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My partner and our respective families. All of them have been our rock and have pulled us through tough times. They have been the greatest supporters as we were starting out and continue to believe in us

Website: https://theboiisco.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theboiisco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theboiisco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theboiisco

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@theboiisco

Image Credits
Vic Yuen, Emily Feng and Helen So

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