In 1992, Alex Magpantay took his first step as an entrepreneur with his first branch of Albeth Bakehouse in the municipality of Cuenca, Batangas.
Now the newly-elected major of his hometown and with 38 bakeries that his family manages, he wants to dream even bigger.
Magpantay wants to level up the whole local bakery industry and bring back Cuenca’s title as the country’s “Home of the Bakers.”
“As an entrepreneur, I knew with the expansion I was doing together with my family, I was creating more jobs for the local community, helping family and friends who are unable to invest and are afraid to start a business on their own, and that’s how I started to think deeper and ask myself how I could further help and serve more,” he said.
Back in 2010, when he was then councilor, he used his 12 bakery branches to do more for his constituents.
“What help I could not give as a councilor, I gave it through the bakeries I ran. I was able to help more through the branches of Albeth Bakehouse,” he said.
The mayor is now ready to take on the challenge of bringing back the town’s glory as the Home of the Bakers of the Philippines.
He and his team are working closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure that they are able to uplift the status of the community bakers in the town.
“We are working with the likes of Tinapayan Festival, Technological University of the Philippines, and the LGUs of Alitagtag and Cuenca to put up a school that is specific to baking. We are hoping to be able to have a short course related to baking so that more from the community will learn the basics in knowledge, skills, and training to become great bakers,” Magpantay said.
“We are hoping to provide basic training that could enable around 50 to 60% of what is sold in the schools in Cuenca and Alitagtag to be the baked products produced from the TUP campus in this town. We are hoping, together with the support of all relevant stakeholders including the office of our Governor Mandanas, that we will aim for Batangas to become the baking capital of the Philippines,” he added.
He expressed hope that through this project, the town will be able to produce more livelihood opportunities for members of the community, and for many to finally see again the potential of community bakeries after the pandemic.
“I am confident that if all Cuencanos work together to come back and open their community bakeries that may have closed during the pandemic, we will be able to progress as a town. We know that we can help budding community bakers through the technical aspect of the business – helping them improve on their operations, build on their methods for production, and even down to selling,” he added.
