Our Story

Built by fighters. Made for fighters.

EMPANELO was not born from a perfect plan. It was shaped by years of hard work, setbacks, learning, and the determination to keep going.

For Anelo, the journey started at just 12 years old, when cooking became more than a skill—it became a way to fight through life’s hardships. His journey eventually took him from demanding food environments on cruise ships to Canada, where he learned the discipline, consistency, and precision behind food production at scale.

Sunshine took a different path. A registered nurse who chose to stay and build a future in the Philippines, she eventually spent 17 years building a customized cake business with creativity, skill, and heart. But the experience revealed one important challenge: a business built around highly customized work could only grow as far as the hands behind it.

Together, they began searching for something more—a food product that could be loved by many, made consistently, scaled beyond one store, and create opportunities as it grew. That search led them back to something familiar: the humble empanada. But EMPANELO was never meant to be just another empanada. It became their challenge to give something familiar new life—and to build a brand around something they both understood deeply: the courage to keep going.

Today, EMPANELO carries that same spirit. Built through experience, setbacks, lessons, and the refusal to stop chasing a dream, we hope to fuel the same determination in everyone working toward their own everyday wins.

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