Bakeshop innovates to cope with times

CEBU, Philippines - To stay afloat during tough times, innovation is the key.

Thus, 25-year old homegrown bakery chain San Jose Bakeshop gears towards a new concept of setting up a convenience store cum bakeshop outlet.

In an interview with its general manager Niñi Jose S. Tiongko, he said that after they have intensified their company’s administration and management systems, they are now looking for more strategic spaces and locations to expand.

Tiongko said their location preferences require an area with sizeable human traffic.

He added that nowadays, location is a very big factor in the bakery business especially now that competition is getting stiffer with the presence of burger joints sprouting anywhere in the city.

“There are a lot of players that are competing for a space. New players and also burger joints that have the same target market that we have are making it hard for us to expand,” said Tiongko.

He said that for the first quarter of this year, they have noted a stagnant growth in their bread sales which could be attributed to the fact that consumers have been careful in their expenditure due to the economic crisis.

However, as the economy starts to recover, Tiongko is optimistic that the public will once again increase their buying preference on bread.

Moreover, one of the many ways that San Jose Bakeshop is considering to increase sales and consumer traffic is to diversify its product line and business model that would fit the changing needs of the consumers that their outlets are serving.

“Since we are already have neighborhoods, workplaces and accessible commercial areas, we want our product lines to be diversified and serve the basic necessities of consumers. We saw that there is a potential for this kind of concept and we see it as a way of growth for the company,” said Tiongko.

He added that instead of just serving fresh bread to their clientele, their planned bakery cum convenience store set-up will offer more household needs.

He said that currently, they are still under the strategic planning stage for this new bakery concept that will hopefully be realized next year as it will entail more investments for the renovations of their existing outlets.

Currently, San Jose Bakeshop has 20 company-owned outlets which are mostly located within the city and reaches as far as Liloan in the North and Tabunok in the South.

Tiongko said that after they strengthened their core business, they might consider going into franchising to grow their family business not only here in Cebu but also to expand presence in other areas and provinces in the country.

“We want to build our core first before we go into franchising so that we can provide support and assistance to our would-be franchisees. We are taking our plans one step at a time so that everything will run smoothly,” said Tiongko.

San Jose Bakeshop began in 1983 founded by Tiongko’s parents and that time it was one of the most dominant operators in Cebu’s bakery industry.

By early 2008, Tiongko joined the company and started to improve the sales of the existing bakery and right now he is in the process of professionalizing their employees to consistently provide the same quality of service that their brand was always known for.

San Jose Bakeshop recently opened three new bakeries located in Urgello, Basak and in Bulacao, Pardo. — Rhia de Pablo