Japanese bread brand gains ground in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — Cebuano entrepreneur John Oliver Yap who has been in the distribution business for quite a while now, has ventured into bakery business amid the tight competition with local and giant brands.

Yap launched his bread brand called “Ichipan”, capitalizing on the high-grade Japanese technology.

Operated under the ACS Food Manufacturing Inc., Ichipan made its debut into the department stores’ shelves four months ago, and is now competing head on with already established brands in the market.

“The quality of Japanese bread is better and we wanted to bring it here,” said Yap in an interview.

Despite presence of a lot of brands especially in the loaf bread category, Yap is confident that Ichipan will be able to draw its own set of market. So far, the business has exceeded his expectations in the last four months.

Ichipan’s white bread and wheat bread products are made available in the major supermarkets around Metro Cebu, Bohol and Dumaguete, and in Iloilo and Tacloban this month.

“We entered into the bakery business knowing that we could give better products to consumers. We don’t look at other brands as competitors, but we are here to provide additional options to consumers,” he added.

According to Yap, the company initially produced about 200 loaves a day, now its plant in Naga City Cebu is making at least 2,000 loaves daily and it is preparing to increase its capacity to expand its product lines to include smaller pan de sal and pastries.