Capturing Ilonggo taste for food, delicacies

TINAPAYAN owner Evelyn Que is hands on running her bakeshop at the Iloilo Supermart Atrium branch. GUIJO DUENAS/INQUIRER VISAYAS

ILOILO CITY – There’s definitely more than bread in Iloilo’s Tinapayan.

For 37 years, the bakeshop has catered to Ilonggos, starting as a no-frills store and later evolving into a high-quality but affordable one.

Found exclusively in branches of Iloilo Supermart, it has become one of Iloilo’s models of successful family-owned and-operated businesses.

Tinapayan’s owner, Evelyn Que, says her family’s late patriarch, Que Hua Pho, opened a stall inside the family-owned Iloilo Supermart’s first branch on Valeria Street in 1974 with just a few products, including the “golden mamon,” “hopia,” “monggo ensaymada,” “pancho,” “half-moon” and “pandesal.”

Customers would bring home bread from the stall after doing their grocery, Que says.

In 1994, the bakeshop underwent a radical makeover in time with the opening of the Iloilo Supermart branch at the modern The Atrium, a mall on General Luna and Bonifacio streets.

Que, 45, the youngest of 10 siblings, assumed management of the bakeshop from elder sister, Madeline Que-Denate, in 1987 after graduating from college with a degree in medical technology.

High-quality vision

“We envisioned a high-quality bakeshop catering to the Ilonggos’ known taste for food and delicacies,” she says.

With her insatiable drive for baking, Que introduced more products she learned mostly from research and her travels.

“I was a one-person research and development team and I learned from recipes and experimented with new ones through trial and error,” she says.

With a modern look, Tinapayan quickly became a sought-after bakeshop. It offers high-quality pastries and breads including croissants, tortes, mini bars and ice cream cakes along with most of its original products.

It was among the first to sell an entire line of healthy food, including sugar-free “ensaymada” and “mamon,” and whole wheat, multigrain and vegetable-based bread.

“There is a steadily growing market for healthier food among Ilonggos and we have offered these products upon the prodding of our loyal customers,” Que says.

Food festivals

Tinapayan’s annual special preparations and festivals have become among the most anticipated events. It holds a chocolate festival dubbed “Sinful Desires” from the last week of September to October, featuring the latest trends and preparations of chocolate cakes, pastries and bread loaves.

From November to December, a “Gingerbread Village” festival displays miniature structures and people made of gingerbread and cinnamon.

Because of the constantly evolving taste of consumers, Que says the bakeshop continues to innovate. While Ilonggos prefer “soft and sweet” products, she says, they also look for new and unfamiliar ones.

Although a far cry from its original bread stall, Tinapayan has drawn a bigger number of loyal customers because it has kept its prices affordable. “The last time we had a price increase was three years ago and we have maintained a smaller profit margin even when prices of ingredients increase,” Que says.

Many of the products are tastier but cheaper than those offered by Manila-based pastry and cake chains.

Innovation

Tinapayan has expanded to the six branches of Iloilo Supermart. Its staff has grown from 15 to over 100.

Que now has a staff for research and development, but she is still hands-on in product development, inventory and quality control. At times, she brings some of the staff abroad to learn cake designs and preparations.

She says the work ethic developed among the siblings by their parents has helped her deal with the challenges of the business. The siblings had been required to help in running the supermarket during weekends and after classes.

Her passion for baking also makes her work fun and less tiring. “I have an advantage now of having more time to innovate because the business has already grown and become more stable,” she says.