And now a word about our suppliers...

At Bella's Bites, we take both great care as well as pride in our selection of suppliers and the products we use.  So what is important to us?  One word - you.  At Bella's we have a simple philosophy.  We won't serve you what we wouldn't serve ourselves.  We won't use ingredients for you that we would be reluctant to use for ourselves. 

But what does that mean in reality?  When we choose ingredients, we look for quality, food safety and source. 

Source is simple - where the ingredient meets our quality and food safety criteria, we will choose local products to help support the Philippine farmers and economy.  It also means that the produce is the most fresh, as it is bought at the closest time to picking in the case of fruit and vegetables. 

Food safety - where the product is made and comes from is weighed by ensuring the location has strong food safety and hygiene standards.  For grown products, the quality of the soil and use of pesticides is also of utmost importance. 

And of course the quality of the product is important - great tasting food comes from great quality ingredients. 

Below are some examples of our purchasing policy as the best ways of explaining it in practice.

At Bella's we choose Harvey Fresh milk whenever we can get it.  And that sometimes means much traveling across Cebu to find suppliers! Why not local?  The local dairy industry in the Philippines is quite small and the availability of fresh milk hard to come by.  Especially for our coffee and milk shakes, the use of good quality, consistent fat content milk is important.  In our testing, Harvey Fresh milk provides a consistently great frothing quality and tastes great.  It is made with Australian milk and imported directly, so Australia's very high standards of food safety and hygiene are not compromised as no reprocessing in other countries occurs.  Harvey Fresh is made with dairy cows that are free range on Australian grasses on Australian soils.  So there is no risk of heavy metals and pesticides entering the food chain (*Australian farmers use pesticides but their use is monitored by the government food authorities and animals that may be at risk of grazing on treated areas are restricted from entering the food supply).  More information is available at Harvey Fresh's website.

At Bella's we also choose to use San Remo pasta.  San Remo is a company that was founded by an Italian in the South Australian state more than 75 years ago and has prospered ever since, making quality durum wheat pasta.  We chose San Remo after trying many different pasta manufacturers and found their product has a great taste and a consistent texture.  In fact, we have had some Italians comment on the great taste of our pasta. More information  is available at San Remo's website.

We use a lot of citrus at Bella's, from our juices and our ice crushes to our cooking.  We purchase our citrus from countries that have reliable supply of quality product.  These include Australia, USA and South Africa.  The citrus production in the Philippines is small and therefore we are limited in being able to purchase from the local product.  However we deliberately choose as much of our fruit and vegetables to be as local as possible.

We also use green apples in our drinks and our yummy moist apple cake.  The best apples for cooking are Granny Smith apples, which happened to be created just a short distance from where this author grew up!  Where possible we use our fruit and vegetables from countries such as the Philippines, Australia, USA, and European countries.  We deliberately avoid purchasing from countries where soil pollution and lack of published accountability for pesticide and fertiliser use is a factor.  Whilst these may produce nice looking food that is quickly grown, the result though is tasteless fruit that may be harmful to our health, and that isn't what we want.

We have to use some products that are processed.  So what are we thinking when we choose one product over another?  We look into their ingredients to see that there is NO MSG used and look to ensure content is not driven by sugars and fats and artificial colours and flavours.  But where possible, we choose to make our products from the base ingredients for the simple reason that this is the easiest way to ensure a quality meal for you.  So this means we make our own stocks and our own salad dressings.

Sometimes these factors means we pay more for our produce and ingredients and we do our best to ensure that you have don't have to make a choice between great quality and cost.  Bella's motto is simple - "because...don't you deserve better?".   And the end result?  A tasty, quality meal for you to enjoy and relax knowing that we are taking care of you.

So there is only one thing you need to do - come in and enjoy our great tasting food and drinks.

*** Note that no manufacturer asked us to reference us for this article and none provide any incentive to use their products.

Happy to share some of the photos of our yummy food and our great looking location in this album.

Reflections on our first week

Wow! What a great first week. Soft opening gives us the opportunity to get your feedback on what we are doing, both positive and areas of improvements.

The overwhelming feedback has been great, with many commenting on the relaxing setting and the delicious food and drinks.

Some of the feedback:

On the cafe itself -
"like the colour and decor - inviting to be in"
"great that you have power outlets in the seating"
"relaxing"
"warm"

On the drinks -
about Bella's Booster: "the best juice I have had"
Wagga Fruit juice Cleanser: "wow, this is good"
Strawberry and Banana Delight: "this one is good"

The milk shakes are getting good reviews from all who try, including:
Choco-nana Milk Shake - "I wasn't sure about the combination, but it really works"

Coffee is also getting positive feedback from both locals and visitors. Bella's has some coffees that are not available anywhere else locally and our Marrocchino is now a favourite of all who try.

And the food is getting the best compliment we could hope for...empty plates! People are already telling us that their favourite is the Cheese, Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake, with a topping that people can't stop eating. Our Penne Carbonara was just reviewed by an Italian Australian who said the penne was cooked just right and really enjoyed the meal. The Seven Cs soup is another favourite, with a gentle curry and chicken flavour. Bella's Caesar Salad is quickly becoming your must eat salad. All our soups and salads are also getting great feedback on the generous sizes.

And who could go past our desserts. On our baked chocolate mousse - "wow, this is really good" and "I'm not a chocolate lover but this is delicious". Our Moist Apple cake is a go to dessert - loaded with healthy green apples.

So great feedback and we hope that you can drop by and enjoy the full menu this coming week. Because you deserve better, Bella's Bites is here serving great tasting, healthy foods and drinks.

Thanks for all those who have shared with us. Like us on Facebook, but we would enjoy seeing you like us in person.

Bella's Bites Soups and Salads - ...because, don't you deserve more?

Now Open - Ground Floor, Mactan Marina Mall, Airport Road, Lapu Lapu.  Just near SaveMore supermarket and the rear carpark.