A growing sideline

Although Art and Anna Pineda have good-paying jobs, the couple put up a modest bakery business last December as their education trust fund for their young son. Art is a systems integrator at Fujitsu Phils. while Anna is marketing manager for Telesat, a service provider company of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

Anjo’s Bakeshop is located along Amang Rodriguez Ave. in Manggahan, Pasig, an area populated by mostly apartment dwellers from the C-D market.

"The working class–those who rent apartments and live off their salaries–are the people who are not afraid to buy things and spend their money. The A and B classes are more afraid to spend," said Art Pineda.

To cater to this market, the bakeshop offers five different kinds of pan de sal, which are priced from P1.50 for the regular bread to P3 for the cheese version. A wheat pan de sal for the health conscious has been recently introduced.

The heart of the bakeshop operation is a P45,000 "Magic Oven", which the Pinedas purchased from Bakery Exchange, an importer and distributor of bakery equipment. The oven is equipped with two-layer baking plates and a built-in dough proofer for the frozen dough, which eliminates the need for a baker or panadero to do the dough or the masa.

"The Magic Oven’s ease of operations is something that attracted my interest because there is no special training required. Two helpers can operate the system in our absence and I just give them instructions on stock position," said Pineda.

Another opportunity

Two months ago, the bakeshop also began to sell roasted chicken with its bread. "We got the idea when we noticed during our weekend shopping sessions that there were always long lines of people in the chicken section," said Pineda.

The couple again went to Bakerex for their rotisserie equipment, which cost P25,000.

The Pinedas get their marinated chicken from another friend at P88 a kilo, which they, in turn, sell for P190 a kilo for a 1.3 kilo roasted chicken. On the average, the bakeshop sells between five to 10 whole chickens a day, netting P75 on each chicken sold.

Since the store is very near a church, sales of roasted chicken go up to more than a dozen during Sundays and paydays.

The bakeshop employs two trusted people, who are left at the shop most of the day. Anna opens the store and does the beginning inventory for the day while Art closes it and diligently notes the closing inventory and the sales proceeds. Since the bakery is a two-story, two-room apartment, the employees live on the upper floor.

After 10 months of operation, the Pinedas are now seriously thinking of putting up another outlet, preferably located along a major thoroughfare.