Taking an old town panaderia to another level
Anthony Pantoja President Panaderia Pantoja Inc.
Anthony Pantoja took to another level the bakery established by his grandparents 72 years ago. Today, Panaderia Pantoja has a network of seven branches, six franchises and over 50 dealers/resellers, and has started exporting to select markets.
Anthony learned how to run the bakery from his father Arturo, and sold cheesecake to his classmates at De La Salle Lipa.”
WHEN he was a college student, Anthony Pantoja hawked cheese rolls at P5 each to raise funds for his tuition.
Today, Anthony heads Panaderia Pantoja Inc. which produces various bakery and confectionery products, part of which are shipped abroad for Filipino communities and foreigners to enjoy. And it all started with a bakery established by his grandparents 72 years ago in Batangas.
Anthony, now the third-generation president of Panaderia Pantoja, is aspiring to supply the 100 Seafood City Supermarket chains and Asian grocers in the US West Coast and Midwest, and in Canada. Hong Kong was the first export market, followed by the US West Coast.
“We wish to saturate the Middle East market through consolidators. We have agents and brokers [who service agrofood establishments] in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. Five years ago, we started exporting to Hong Kong and Japan,” Anthony said.
The first products exported to Hong Kong and Japan were jacobina, paborita and twice-baked biscocho.
Panaderia Pantoja uses consolidators or third parties to export non-perishable biscuits jacobina, paborita and biscocho to Filipinos abroad, said Sales and Marketing Executive Cristy Briones.
“Paper work is being prepared for the export of lengua de gato, thin, flat butter cookies similar to French cat’s tongue (lengua de chat), lengua ube (purple yam ) and lengua café (coffee) flavors,” Briones added.
Anthony now owns 51 percent of Panaderia Pantoja while his loyal staff own 9 percent. His siblings — Miki, Archie, Abraham and Margot — each have a 10-percent stake in the company.
Humble beginnings
Panaderia Pantoja traces its roots to Pantoja Bakery which was founded in Tanauan, Batangas by Anthony’s grandparents. It has since expanded from a single proprietorship bakery to a corporation with a recognizable brand name and seven branches and six franchises. Over 50 dealers Oresellers distribute its baked products locally and abroad.
“This is what the old town bakery of Panaderia Pantoja is reviving. Memories of years gone by. With good old products, our senses are renewed,” said Anthony’s mother Marilyn, a former advertising and marketing executive at Daily Express (DE).
The original Patoja Bakery was renamed Panaderia Pantoja in the 1980s, an idea of DE advertising copywriter Tonton Santos, who also introduced the round red and yellow logo, and old bakery utensils in the design.
Today, Panaderia Pantoja is famous for jacobina, a rectangular, crisp, paper-thin layers of dough from flour, sugar and pork lard; and the round paborita or aglipay biscuit made from dough without eggs passed through a dough brake then rolled into thin sheets.
The other popular products from the bakery are bottom-crust pandesal and putok (crack); ensaymada, a butter-laden coiled bread; twice-cooked biscocho, a sliced old bread coated with margarine and sprinkled with sugar; kababayan, a salakot (straw hat)-shaped sweet brown muffin; pan de agua (water bread); and bonete (oily bread hat).
Pandesal generates 36 percent of the morning and afternoon daily sales. Tasty, or loaf bread, accounts for 22 percent. More tasty are sold on Christmas and New Year, said Anthony.
Hardworking grandfather
Anthony’s memory of his grandfather, known as Lolo Aurelio, was also that of a smoker and a chess player. His grandfather woke up at dawn to bake pandesal and brew kapeng barako (Batangas coffee) for panaderos (bakers) who made weekly vale (cash advance), bought alcohol and went to work intoxicated.
His grandfather also went to the market to buy food for the bakers, whose children are still working for the Pantojas. Obviously, his grandfather was a hardworking man.
The original Pantoja Bakery started with P50,000 and an old clay brick oven or pugon behind the house in a Chinese-owned property that was given as a wedding gift to Celinda Laurel Dimayuga of Tanauan and spouse Aurelio Maningat Pantoja of Balayan seven decades ago. It was a gift from Celinda’s parents.
When Anthony’s parents, Arturo Dimayuga Pantoja and Marilyn Gonzales married in 1975, they took over the management of the bakery. Arturo was the manager, payroll master and cashier. He did everything by hand and calculator.
“I couldn’t believe this would be my business. I was like a Maestro Musikero with a gitara and a silindro (harmonica),” said Arturo. He runs the Alabang franchise. “I learned sipag at tiyaga (industriousness and perseverance) from my father (Aurelio).”
In 1970, Arturo mechanized operations and hired more people, ramping up production.
His brother Abraham is actively involved in the business and loves what he is doing for Panaderia Pantoja. “Loving your work is among the keys to our success,” said Abraham, the vice president for sales and marketing. “Be dedicated. Be committed. Love your employees. Give back to community. Treat suppliers as business partners. If we grow, you also grow.”
Anthony gains interest
Arturo saw his son Anthony’s interest in the business, who learned from the Department of Science and Technology new baking techniques and borrowed money to improve and expand the bakery. The son also introduced the use of gloves, face masks and hair nets for the bakery’s personnel, and built the bakery’s commissary in Tanauan, Batangas.
A centralized production facility also mass produced bread, pastries and cakes, and later, branches were allowed to bake their own products. After Anthony learned baking cakes from his aunt, Nita Gonzales, he added custom-made cakes to the marble, chocolate and custard choices.
From 2012, gas and electric ovens were added to the production system as firewood became scarce after wood-cutting was restricted.
It was through hands-on experience that Anthony learned how to run the bakery and to expand both its production and market reach. He recalls that when he was under the apprenticeship of his father, he also did the slicing and wrapping white loaves in brown bags, preparing the payroll, and running the bakery.
“From Daddy came the basic system, which I improved on. He taught me the bread prices, recipes, cost of ingredients, cost per piece, yield per sack, which I wrote down in a notebook,” said Anthony, the eldest son and second of five siblings.
He also sold 500 to 700 pieces of cheese rolls packed in a gym bag daily to his schoolmates at De La Salle Lipa where he studied Industrial Engineering. But he shifted course and graduated with a Hotel and Restaurant Management degree. He later obtained his Masters in Business Administration from Ateneo de Manila University.
With a P2 profit from each cheese roll sold, Anthony was able to pay for his tuition and buy a second hand Nokia 7650 slider cellphone from a classmate.
His cousins used to tease and ask Anthony: “Is your father a panadero (baker)?” And he would answer that he is the COO, or the child of the owner, who did the counting of the money from the business.
And today, Anthony can be described as the real COO, or chief operating officer, and the de facto chief executive officer of Panaderia Pantoja, which has expanded its reach way beyond the town where it first started.