We’ve seen many food brand collaborations over the years perfected to great effect. And it doesn’t take a lot to realize the purpose of such partnerships—from improving perception and amplifying awareness to solving a business problem and even exploring new identities—but it takes the right kind of union to pull it off and make it work both ways.

“Brands are collaborating to create a culturally relevant storyline,” Treat Day Creative founder Nicolette Dantas says in an article on The Takeout.“While not every collaboration is political, it should be novel, and tap into the desires of a larger audience.”

But for two Baguio food institutions, the product of their cross-brand union goes beyond simply engaging new consumers or driving sales: There’s also a bigger, more meaningful aspect at play.

Everything Nice Cafe and The Good Shepherd, whose lineages date back to 70 and 20 years ago respectively and who have both created their own market in and outside Baguio, have teamed up for the first time to bring bottled ube and signature cakes with a side of philanthropy.

“Sister Guada and I have been friends since the pandemic started,” says Everything Nice Cafe’s Robbie Pantaleon. “Knowing we both want to do good and be in service to people, I approached her with the idea of collaborating for the 70th anniversary of the Good Shepherd.”

“Sister Guada and I have been friends since the pandemic started,” says Everything Nice Cafe’s Robbie Pantaleon. “Knowing we both want to do good and be in service to people, I approached her with the idea of collaborating for the 70th anniversary (Nov. 11) of the Good Shepherd.”

What makes this even more momentous is that aside from the fact that this is the first time that Good Shepherd has collaborated with another brand, the project is built around corporate social responsibility and the Religious of the Good Shepherd values.

“We’ve dedicated a portion of the sales to the Children with Cancer in Baguio and the 105 scholars of Good Shepherd all throughout the country,” shares Pantaleon.

The result is a super-limited cake and crinkles that improves the formula using Good Shepherd’s specialty ube halaya. And they’re neither just for show or a fluke. The ube cake—which comes in sharing (P1,200) or solo (P280) tubs—confidently alternates layers of ube chiffon, ube cream, and ube halaya, then tops it off with ube crumbs that would dazzle anyone with an affinity for color. There’s a gentle sweetness and an unsurprising consistency to each bite that’s to be expected from an Everything Nice Cafe product.

And then there’s the crinkles where, I daresay, are a cut above the usual soft cookies with their chewiness. Kids (and kids at heart) would want to pay special attention to these big-impact, bite-sized confectioneries. These come in two containers (24 pieces for P400 and 10 pieces for P220) that gives a more delicious meaning to gifts that give back this holiday season.

What Everything Nice Cafe and Good Shepherd’s partnership has shown is that even niche collaborations can transform into a special feat of miracle that can change lives. The fact that these are all products of benevolence from Baguio is a reminder of what we can all do when taking kindness and a desire to help into our own hands.

For Baguio orders, the products are available in all Everything Nice Cafe stores as well as The Good Shepherd Convent until January 2023. Contact 0916-6954294 or visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.

For Manila orders, fill out this order form or contact 0967-2318280