A fortune in rice cakes

CALASIAO, Pangasinan , Philippines  – The “Puto King” has literally struck “white gold” with the town’s famous puto (rice cake).

Rufo de la Cruz, 66, and his wife Leonora of Barangay Dinalaoan here began selling their white, marshmallow soft, bite-size puto in the 1970s during town fiestas and carnivals.

“We literally started from nothing. But thanks to God for giving us puto which is a great blessing,” he told The STAR during the town’s recent puto festival. 

Rudy and Leonor borrowed P70 to start their puto business. They bought two gantas of rice plus sugar and made about 1,200 pieces of puto.   

Aling Leonora occupied a small space where their puto was displayed, while Mang Rudy went around during fiestas to sell their product. There were times when the couple stayed up nights to cook the puto, the recipes of which they learned from their mothers, who were also puto makers. 

They put up a stall near the shrine of the Señor Divino Tesoro here and near the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Church, selling their puto under the brand Bella’s Puto, the name of their eldest child. 

From their sweat, industry, persistence and determination, the couple were able to save and build a beautiful two-storey house, and bought several vehicles and invested in real estate, all thanks to puto. But their greatest pride is having sent their six children to school and all have earned college degrees.

It is indeed a far cry and a long journey from the days when they would only have bagoong (shrimp paste) and rice to eat, and he would split wood with a hatchet earning P2 a day and grate coconut to earn extra money.

“It’s God to whom we give glory for what we have reached in life,” he said, adding that he is sharing their blessings by helping other less fortunate people. 

“We won’t stop producing puto because maybe this is God’s plan for us so we can also help others,” he added. 

Bella’s Puto starts making puto at 10 p.m. and finishes at 4 a.m. with an average production of 48,000 pieces a day. 

Restaurant owners from as far as Metro Manila come to their stall here to pick up about 30 to 40 kilos of puto a day. Bella’s Puto also has stalls in major malls in Central and Northern Luzon.

And what is the secret of their melts-in-the mouth puto? Mang Rudy says it’s the kind of water, rice, and sugar they use – plus the passion they put in to produce the best tasting puto in town. 

Bella’s Puto has a shelf life of three days, up to six days when refrigerated. Aside from their white puto, they also sell bite-size kutsinta and other colorful and flavored puto like pandan (green), cheese (yellow), strawberry (red) and ube (violet), mostly on order for special occasions. A kilo of puto sells for P70.       

Bella’s Puto has joined several trade fairs held in big malls and other festivals in many parts of the country, including malls in Metro Manila, to market Pangasinan’s pride. It has earned several awards and their success story was named provincial winner in the Sipag at Tiyaga contest last year, earning them P120,000. They also won an award from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the national level for their inspiring story. 

Mang Rudy is thankful to government agencies like the DTI, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Tourism, the provincial and municipal governments for opening many doors of opportunity to make their product known.

Mang Rudy is the president of the Calasiao Puto Producers Association composed of more than 50 members occupying 40 stalls in front of the town hall.