Big Smile Bread Station, Gardenia’s community bakery business, celebrates its first year of bringing bigger smiles to Filipino families.
With a theme “Isang Taong Sarap, Isang Taong Ngiti,” its first year highlights the value of accommodating, friendly service, wide variety of good quality, delicious and innovative bakery product offerings to the satisfaction it brings to valued consumers.
Gardenia’s business development manager and head of the Big Smile Bread Station operations Bienvenido Topacio reveals the secrets of the bread station’s first successful year.
“A mix of innovative, wide array of product offerings, warm and friendly service, clean and brightly-lit stores supported by aggressive marketing efforts, and continuous store expansions are the key ingredients of Big Smile Bread Station’s success on its first anniversary,” Topacio said.
Big Smile Bread Station has been continually innovating its products and opening more stores to support the growing bread market demand in the country today.
Big Smile Bread Station is Gardenia’s first version of neighborhood bakery chain. It offers classic Filipino bread favorites such as pandesal, ensaymada, pan de coco, kababayan, spanish bread and the like.
The company is poised to set up 1,000 Bread Station stores in Luzon with additional 500 stores in the Visayas and Mindanao regions in the next few years.
The bread station has a variety of Filipino bread favorites classified into four categories—Big Smile Favorites, Say Cheese, Happy Filling and Ulam-napay.
Big Smile favorites are all-time classic choices served fresh every day like Pandesal, Kababayan, Ensaymada (plain), Chiffon (sliced cake), Mamon and Crinkles.
Say Cheese, on the other hand, are cheese-filled varieties like Cheese Ensaymamon, Cheese Roll, and Cheese Bread.
While cheese-flavored bread lovers can enjoy Big Smile Say Cheese breads, Happy Filling bread will satisfy cravings for breads loaded with chocolate, coconut shred, etc. These are the likes of Chocolate Bread, Inipit, Pandecoco and Spanish Bread.
For those who want to snack on more filling bread varieties, the Ulam-napay is a bun filled with favorite Filipino dish like beef caldereta, chicken adobo, pork BBQ, pork asado and sisig.
Big Smile products are baked daily in a sanitized and pest-free central production facility using Gardenia’s advanced technology and baking expertise to assure consumers of better and consistent quality breads at affordable prices.
All are delivered to stores fresh daily using Gardenia’s logistics network, a fleet of delivery vehicles doing the rounds daily.
Products are also sold hot-from-the oven at the point of sale as per request of consumers.
Apart from its wide array of product offerings, Big Smile aims to deliver a whole new customer experience.
The stores are clean, brightly lit and painted with vibrant colors thereby enhancing the store’s ambiance. Customers are greeted with a big smile and a happy, caring and friendly service upon entering.
As the business plans to expand with 1,000 branches in the next few years, Big Smile Bread Station is now open for franchise. Initial franchise fee starts at P350,000.
Three business models are available – full store, kiosk and cart. Each will be inclusive of Big Smile innovative products, support and services.
Big Smile Bread Station currently has stores in Pasig, Laguna, Taguig, Makati, Rizal, Batangas, Muntinlupa and Cavite.