DOST 7 SET-UP Product Catalogue - DOST 7! - Department of ...

Bakeshop On The Rock
“Bakeshop On The Rock”
From the main highway in Baclayon, one has to traverse through a rocky pathway that leads to a modest
structure which houses the only maker of real ube polvoron in Bohol. It is therefore not surprising that the
name of the business is, Bakeshop On the Rock.
Other than earning its name due to its location, the
bakeshop is also built on a solid relationship between
two long time and best friends - Florencia Pestelos,
Owner and Proprietor and Dra. Nepomucena Buot,
Manager. With the assistance of a baker nephew,
the duo registered the bakeshop in December, 2001.
However, with several bakeries operating in the area,
competition was stiff. A specialty product had to be
developed in order to survive the competition.
In 2002, the Bohol Ube Festival was held. The newlydeveloped
puto and polvoron made of ube which
were entries in the competition, won first prizes while
the ube cake won second prize. The Ube Festival of
the succeeding two years brought the same honor,
this time, with ube candy and ube pizza.
With the acceptance and popularity of ube-based
products through participation in trade fairs and
exhibits as a member of an association of food
industries, Bohol Profoods, production cannot
cope with the demands of the market. For polvoron
production, the plant can produce 110 packs
(10 pieces per pack) per day.
Product packaging badly needed improvement not
only to attract customers but to prolong shelf life.
This will enable the product to be competitive
outside of Bohol. Assistance in these two areas
was therefore sought.
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DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VII
Product Catalogue 2011
Having coordinated with DOST prior to the bakery
business through an involvement with an NGO,
Dra. Buot knew that the agency had some form of
assistance to small businesses. However, the extent
of such assistance was only known during the membership
of the bakeshop in the association of food
industries in Bohol.
The bakeshop’s participation in SET-UP was
designed to increase the volume of production by
150% and to reduce spoilage from 20% to 10% by
enhancing shelf life through an improved packaging
technology.
As a result, the baking process was improved.
The costly gas consuming traditional oven was
replaced with a more economical one. A toaster,
which evenly toasts the ube powder, was added
to the bakeshop’s equipment. A polvoron moulder
made the original task of manually shaping the
polvoron into its desired shape a lot easier, as
well as standardizing the shapes. Unlike before
where 6 kilos can produce 600 polvorons in a
day’s work, with the moulder, the same 6 kilos
can produce the same number of polvorons but
this is done in only one hour, instead of one day.
Packaging was also improved- from the ordinary
plastic containers to beautifully-designed purple
cartons. Not only did the packaging do justice to
the product, the product lasted longer.
With a more efficient production, the outlets correspondingly
increased- malls, gift and tourist shops.
The SET-UP objectives were met.
For a while, production was able to cope with the
demand. However, with the resident baker honing
his skills abroad, best friends opted to leisurely go
about their passion, for now.
There is no hurry. Pressures brought about by
demands of the business are not desired at this
time in their lives. With a shared outlook like this,
one will not wonder why best friends have not lost
the laughter and light-heartedness, characteristics
that may seem wanting among many business
owners.
Bakeshop on the Rock
Upper Laya, Baclayon, Bohol
Dr. Nepomucena Buot
Manager / Proprietor
Tel No:(63)(38) 540 9357
Email: ndbuot@yahoo.com