Batangueño Clan Rolling in Dough for 57 Years - INQUIRER.Net Page 1 of 2

Business - Batangueño clan rolling in dough for 57 years - INQUIRER.net Page 1 of 2

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Batangueño clan rolling Reprint this article Print this article Send as an e-mail Send Feedback in dough for 57 years Comment on this article on our Vox Populi blog

+ SPORTS By Marlon Alexander Luistro RELATED STORIES + NEWS Southern Luzon Bureau First Posted 11:26pm (Mla time) 07/15/2007 Puto tops in Biñan + SHOWBIZ & STYLE Shedding light on Philippine economic reality + TECHNOLOGY RP halal products seen making a comeback in Middle TANAUAN CITY--In 1950, couple Aurelio and Celinda + BUSINESS East + Money Pantoja arrived for the first time at their inherited house Breaking News in Barangay 4 in this city in Batangas and found a worn- out oven in the backyard. Top Stories Inquirer Columns The old appliance inspired Aurelio to start right then Personal Finance and there a bakery business, which they called Inquirer Features Panaderia Pantoja. Advice

Announcements With a capital of P50,000, Aurelio rehabilitated the IN THIS SECTION MOST EMAILED MOST READ Stocks oven, hired a few bakers from neighboring Batangas Currencies towns, and kept the business going. Great marketing ideas in uncertain times Job Market

Peso-Dollar Rate Back then, there were no mechanical equipment such More Stories » Property Guide as mixers, dividers, dough rollers and rounders. All Bizlinq bread products were hand-made. + Columnists Conrado Banal III Since slicers were not yet available, bakers would have Cielito Habito to use knives to slice loaves of bread. Honesto General Raul Palabrica Aside from owning the business himself, Aurelio Ron Nathan performed multiple jobs of delivery man, purchaser and + OPINION production manager of the bakery. + GLOBAL NATION + SERVICES Celinda handled the day-to-day operations of the ABOUT US bakery. ADVERTISE "It's a funny thing that, when my lola (Celinda) got pregnant, she would even bring her relatives in Balayan INQUIRER ALERT Economy, Business & Finance Get the free INQUIRER to man the bakery and sell," said Anthony Pantoja, newsletter Panaderia Pantoja's vice president for operations. Enter your email address: WHAT'S THIS? More >> During those times, Tanauan only had two bakeries-- Panaderia Pantoja and Almeda Bakery. Submit The Pantoja couple virtually relied on "word of mouth" to market their products in town such as pandesal, tasty LOTTO bread, and paborita and jacobina biscuits. 2 Digit Result: 18 19 3 Digit: 7 5 4 • 3 8 4 • 6 6 These limitations, however, did not hinder the Pantojas from fulfilling their dream. 8 6 Digit: 7 8 4 4 4 6 In the 1970s, their son Arturo took over the business and started to mechanize its operations and hire more Lotto 6/42 Winning people. Numbers: 02 31 01 05 33 15 P 11,216,496.60 By the time new bakeries emerged in town, Panaderia Pantoja was no longer affected since it had already built and maintained good relations with its loyal customers.

CITYGUIDE Today, Panaderia Pantoja has grown into a corporation and is now one of the province's largest bakeries, with franchises in the towns of Rosario, Balayan, Nasugbu, Lemery and Tuy, and the cities of Lipa, Batangas and Search the city for: Tanauan. GO Powered by: It also has two outlets in De La Salle-Lipa.

Hot pandesal Affiliates Although pandesal is available in any other bakery, Panaderia Pantoja takes pride with its trademark hot pandesal, sold at P2 apiece, which has attracted generations of loyal followers in Tanauan.

High demand for the product convinced the Pantoja family to sell hot pandesal both in the morning (5 a.m. to 8 a.m.) and afternoon (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.), which reportedly established a trend in their customers' lifestyle.

"The selling point of our hot pandesal is that it is pugon-baked," said Anthony. "People say bread cooked in a "pugon" or brick oven are more delicious since they are provided with different kinds of aroma and flavoring."

He said their bakery usually mixes cooking oil from lechon baboy with their ingredients for pandesal, which add to the taste.

What puzzles the 29-year-old entrepreneur is that their customers would eat hot pandesal both in the morning and afternoon.

"Surprisingly, some customers would even line up and wait just to buy pandesal," he added.

Hot pandesal is also a product of the bakery's "quality-first" attitude.

Anthony said they would not sacrifice the quality of their bread despite skyrocketing prices of ingredients such as flour.

If the recipe calls for one kilo of sugar, he said, they would exactly put one kilo, and so forth.

To adapt with the price increase, Panaderia Pantoja either adjusts its existing bread prices or produces more products.

Anthony said their bakery targets the B and C market mainly because of their product price, while most Tanauan residents are from the working class.

Depending on the bulk of sales and prices of ingredients, the bakery usually gains a 10-percent average net income from monthly sales.

http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view_article.php?article_id=76804 11/4/2008 Business - Batangueño clan rolling in dough for 57 years - INQUIRER.net Page 2 of 2

Peak months are June, October, November and December, which mark the opening of classes and the celebration of Christmas.

Lean months, on the other hand, are March, April and May, following the end of classes and the start of fruit harvest season.

Staying power It is rare for a bakery to stay in business for 57 years, and Anthony attributes their family's "love for the business" to their success.

He said he had devoted more than 100 percent of his time to the bakery.

"Even when I go to sleep, I would wake up in the middle of the night and write down all my ideas on a scrap of paper until dawn," Anthony said.

With these ideas, the young Pantoja was able to create new products like cheese rolls, cake and cheese pandesal, as alternative to hot pandesal.

"We cannot sell pandesal for 100 years," he said. "A customer's taste is constantly changing, so what we do is we benchmark. We invent new products."

After he graduated in college with a Hotel and Restaurant Management degree, Anthony took a lecture course from Sylvia Reynoso-Gala, where he derived the cheese rolls formula.

He also learns new recipes from books, food expos, mall shows and seminars.

Location remains a factor. Pantoja's main branch is located near the Tanauan Public Market, while other franchises are located in the city or town proper, just like those in Lipa and Balayan.

People coming from the cockpit also visit their branch in Tanauan.

Anthony estimates that a small bakery today would need P500,000 to P700,000 capital to get the business going. Depending on their location, the bakery can expect a return on investment within two to three years.

Close personnel management is also a key ingredient. For instance, Anthony claims that business owners like him stay full-time in the business, monitoring its day-to-day operations.

"It's about having good location, good product and good people," he said. "Absence of any means failure."

Since Anthony took over the business in 2000, the bakery has started professionalizing. It has now established itself into a corporation.

His father Arturo acts as Panaderia Pantoja's president and chief executive officer. Anthony is the company's vice president for operations, handling the human resource, accounting, production and frontline sales departments.

Batangas' best The booming business is now growing, opening another branch in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. It also has franchises on Mother Ignacia and V. Luna Streets in Quezon City, and an outlet in Market, Market.

In the future, Pantoja wants to expand through franchising and explore possibilities of exporting products, particularly the jacobina and paborita biscuits.

For the past five decades, the bakery has lived up to its slogan, "Probably, Batangas' Best," in persuading customers to buy their products.

"We say probably because we don't want to claim we're the best in Batangas," said Anthony. "We say Batangas' Best because most of our franchises are here in Batangas."

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http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view_article.php?article_id=76804 11/4/2008