When most people think of Erwan Heussaff, they picture the content creator, restaurateur, or entrepreneur. Few realize that long before Manila’s restaurants and digital platforms, his career began far away—in the icy expanse of Siberia. That unlikely starting point shaped his discipline, outlook, and entrepreneurial mindset in ways he still draws from today.
“I would basically take care of the operations of Far Eastern Russia and then created like 2000 meals a day and then dispatched and took care of that logistics,” Erwan recalled of his early career in industrial catering. It was far from glamorous, but the scale and responsibility forged habits that would later define his business decisions.
A Global Apprenticeship in Food Operations
Before heading back to the Philippines, Erwan studied international business in Paris, then worked across Asia—in Thailand, Vietnam, and Shanghai. But it was Russia that tested him. He joined Sodexo, a multinational giant in outsourced catering and facilities management, where he was stationed for two years in Siberia.
His job meant managing food for oil rigs, mining camps, and business centers—remote outposts where workers depended entirely on reliable catering. It wasn’t about designing menus or perfecting flavors; it was about execution at scale. “We did outsource large scale industrial catering for business centers there, for the oil rigs, for the mining camps, all these different places,” he said.
That environment demanded precision. Every day, thousands of meals had to be planned, prepared, and delivered despite unpredictable weather, logistical challenges, and the high stakes of feeding entire workforces. For Erwan, it was an introduction to both the complexity and discipline required to run food-related businesses.
Why Operations Mattered More Than Titles
Even back then, people often confused him with being a chef. He was quick to set the record straight. “I was never a chef,” he emphasized. “I was always the person liaising with various chefs with various restaurants and everything like that. So more on the operations side of things.”
This distinction is important to Erwan’s story. While his later ventures in the Philippines often put him in the spotlight, his foundation was in systems thinking: logistics, supply chains, and operations. “I cook, I do cook. But I’ve never been a natural chef in any of my positions,” he admitted. The focus was always on ensuring teams worked in sync, resources were optimized, and outcomes were consistent.
Returning to the Philippines with Global Discipline
After Russia, Erwan was offered another posting—this time in Africa, in conflict areas. He turned it down, instead choosing to return to his roots. “Well, because after… I’m half Filipino obviously. Born and raised here and then I left when I was 17 and then came back,” he shared.
When he reentered the Philippines, he worked in oil and gas services, again tied to industrial catering. Yet he quickly noticed stark differences between markets. “We saw that the market locally for industrial catering was not as high as you’d have it in any other country,” he explained. “People would pay maybe $20 for three meals a day for all their staff working in the mines or on oil rigs… That number was 100 pesos here.”
This reality taught him that successful business models in one country may not translate elsewhere. The local landscape required adapting strategies, understanding purchasing power, and recalibrating expectations.
Building Entrepreneurial Discipline
For many young entrepreneurs, the temptation is to focus on concepts and creativity. Erwan’s years in catering grounded him in the opposite: discipline, patience, and financial reality. Creating thousands of meals a day in harsh conditions wasn’t about passion; it was about consistency and problem-solving.
Those lessons became his compass when he shifted into restaurants, digital media, and eventually agriculture. Operations first, creativity second. Structure before scaling.
“I think what I learned, my biggest lesson out of everything is to really create the right partnerships… to make sure whoever’s taking care of finance really solely focuses on finance,” he reflected later in his career. That clarity in roles traces back to the strict divisions he saw in global catering operations—where every person had a job and failure wasn’t an option.
The Siberian Foundation Behind Manila Success
Today, when Erwan talks about entrepreneurship, he often warns against rushing in unprepared. That advice stems from the hard realities he witnessed early on. Running kitchens for thousands of workers in Russia may seem far removed from building a YouTube channel or running restaurants in Makati, but for him, it was all connected.
From Siberia to Makati, the common thread has been discipline: managing logistics, respecting operations, and recognizing that creativity only flourishes when supported by structure. His story is a reminder that sometimes the most unglamorous beginnings—the grind of 2,000 daily meals in the frozen Russian Far East—become the foundation for everything that follows.
