Business

"Your Franchise Store in the Countryside"
Bread & Butter

BY JET RAMOS-CRUZ/ENTREPRENEUR

Bread & Butter main store, Kalibo, Aklan

The Entrepreneur Magazine recently named the Bread & Butter Bakeshop as one of the Best in Franchising Support for providing their franchisees with continuous training, marketing assistance and pre-opening and on-going support as well as their fidelity to their obligations in the franchise agreement.
Aside from Bread & Butter Bakeshop, other awardees were 7-Eleven Convenience Store, Aqua-best, Figard, Gloria Jeans Coffee, Lots’ A Pizza, Red Ribbon, Save ‘N Learn, The Tea Square Natural Iced Teas and Toby’s Sports.
In the island of Panay, a bakeshop that had its beginnings in Kalibo, Aklan, over 20 years ago has grown into major franchising operation for bakery and other food products.
The Bread and Butter Bakeshop franchise, which is owned and operated by the Iloilo City-based Baker’s Dream Franchise Corporation, now has a total of 26 stores in Aklan as well as in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Antique.
Eighteen of the stores are franchised and the other eight are company-owned, and the company looks forward to opening more franchised outlets in the years ahead.
The company has successfully positioned itself as the leading provider of high-quality but affordable bakery and other food products for families in the Panay countryside.
"We offer only clean and freshly baked bread, cakes, pastries and delicacies," says the company’s president, Guidon dela Cruz.
"The pricing and positioning of our products appeal to the large lower-income market in Panay that’s not served by the large national bakery chains."
Another major reason for the success of Bread & Butter bakeshops, dela Cruz says, is that they offer several traditional baked products in portions that make them highly suitable as pasalubong (take-home presents) to family members.
Word of mouth was primarily responsible for the brand’s popularity, he says, but the company further built brand awareness through continuing publicity and advertising in local radio, television, and print media outlets with "Your Family Bakeshop for Seasons" as theme.
Its reputation for quality and its franchising performance has led to its being adjudged as the "Most Outstanding Bakeshop for the Visayas (2005)" in the Philippine Marketing Excellence Awards in August 2006.
Bread & Butter Bakeshop offers two full-store packages to prospective business partners: a small-store package for a store area of less than 70 square meters, and a big-store package for a store area of more than 70 sq.m.
An initial investment of P700,000 to P1 million is required to cover the equipment and set-up costs, the training of bakeshop personnel and the initial operating costs.The payback period for the initial investment in the store is 18 to 24 months on the average.
"To help our franchisees increase their sales, we invested in a modern central bakery commissary that provides finished products to all Bread & Butter Bakeshop stores," says dela Cruz.
"We likewise created a system to extend marketing, administrative, and accounting know-how to franchisees."
He said, that "the company’s franchise expansion program is anchored on detailed and market-oriented planning, continuing innovation, strong support systems for all of its stores, and effective human resource development program. There are still plenty of growth opportunities in market segments and geographical areas that the company has not yet tapped," so Guidon is confident that Bread & Butter Bakeshop can further increase its franchised stores in the next several years.
He expects most of the new franchisees to come from the growing number of overseas foreign workers, early retirees, and young professionals who are seeking new and affordable business opportunities.
"We will continue to focus on the advantages of investing in the Bread & Butter Bakeshop franchise on the strength of our brand, product lines, plant and equipment, skills training and marketing," he said. /MP