Saturday, May 03, 2008
A BAKED GOODS SHOP AT PLAZA MIRANDA
Jerry Racuya has been in the baked goods business for the past ten years now since moving to Manila from Pangasinan.
This bakery shop in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo where he works, Master's Pasalubong Center, is quite popular. It attracts even more customers on Sundays and on the first Friday of the month when thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene come to attend mass in the nearby Quiapo Church.
However, according to Jerry, they had to raise their prices so as to reflect the nationwide price increase of wheat and other essential baking ingredients. The general five percent increase in their selling prices would have been more had they not compensated by reducing the size of some of their products.
Nonetheless, since the overall surge in the price of basic commodities, this baked goods shop started to post a ten percent drop in business.
"People in general had suddenly become extra careful with their spending habits," Jerry said.
Other merchants in the area echo Jerry's observation; adding that they're actually bracing for another significant drop in business next month when many households prepare for the upcoming new school year in June. It is the time of the year, they claim, when parents allocate a substantial chunk of the family budget to defraying the initial expenses of their children's schooling -- tuition, uniforms, supplies, and etc.
When I asked for their best-seller, Jerry immediately quipped, "The hopia." Hopia is a popular pastry originally introduced by the Chinese immigrants during the early period of the American colonial rule of the Philippines. It is now selling at seven pesos a piece from the previous six pesos at this baked goods shop.
Local Baked Goods
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posted by Señor Enrique at 9:20 AM
15 Comments:
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nutart said... I always get a kick at looking at pastry shops, bakers' stores everywhere! Colorful kasi! like fruit stands. I abhor looking at the meat section and if need be would go straight and ask for chicken parts or liver and leave asap.
Your photos are so alive, Eric!---from the hopias to sweet breads to people buying. So many facial and body expressions. One can do some caricatures from them even! Nakakatuwa because I can picture myself buying the munggo hopia and the lipstick bread!-
mgaputonimimi said...
i love eating bread than rice..
pang diet din at the same time.. ^_^-
armovil said...
Suki po ako ng bakery na iyan. Masarap at affordabe ang prices ng mga tinapay nila.
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Señor Enrique said...
Thank you, Bernadete. I wanted to take shots of this store from other perspectives but it was just too crowded with vendors.
I enjoy looking through the windows of bakeries but not for long; afraid I might end up buying some stuff and pigging out :) I love baked goods kasi :)-
Señor Enrique said...
I can go on for months with bread, Mimi. But there are folks I know who couldn't go for more than a day or two without eating any rice.
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Señor Enrique said...
That's awesome, Arlan! Suki ka pala ng bakery na ito! I haven't really bought anything from this one since I buy my bread stuff over at Palanca Street -- Vienna Bakery, which is near Excellente Ham.
But I'm sure you have some fine Pinoy bakeries where you are :)-
ScroochChronicles said...
7 bucks for a hopia? Ang mahal naman. Well, I can't really judge if its a fair price. Baka naman malaki. Kasi yung binibilhan ko ng hopiang baboy sa may Rd. 20 sa Cubao, 3 pesos lang. Pero masarap :)
I so love bakery products. Everytime I head to the provinces, a bakery is one of the first establishments I look for :)-
Señor Enrique said...
The average price of hopia at Polland and Eng Bee Tin is 9 pesos, while the mini hopia that I get at Palanca Street's Kim Chong Tin Hopia Factory is 4.25 each. Hence, seven pesos for one may not be that expensive after all, Cookie.
But 3.50 pesos for a piece of hopiang baboy is definitely steal!-
Panaderos said...
From your photos, this must be a big store. Shots of the various pastries on display sure are making me hungry. Hehehe
Btw, you had mentioned Excellente Ham on Echague (C. Palanca Street). We used to frequent the place back in the 1970s through the mid 1980s because my father was good friends with the owners. Thus, for the longest time, our Christmas ham came from that store. :) I'm so glad to know that the place is still there.-
gmirage said...
ang mahal ng hopia!
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Señor Enrique said...
That ham store is jam-packed with people during the holidays, Panaderos!
I, too, had fond memories of that store.-
Señor Enrique said...
Seven pesos is not that expensive any more these days, Mirage. There are even more expensive brands; popular, too.
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reyd said...
Buti na lang nakakabili pa ng murang hopia sa Kim Chong... hehehe
I think, they are the only one doing hopia manually, iba ang lasa talaga. Eng Bee Tin... hmmm...yung anak ko lang ang may gusto, kasi maraming flavors.
Goldilocks lang kami dito for pastries, kaso ang mahal na rin, pati ensaymada. I think a PInoy bakery here is a good business, kaso maraming kumpitensiya dito na mga Vietnamese and Chinese bakeries that offer more varieties and very fine pastries.-
Señor Enrique said...
Iba talaga ang lasa ng hopia sa Kim Chong. Marami ngang mas mura pa sa hopia nila pero kapal naman ng wheat around it.
Sa New Jersey daming mga Pinoy bakery! Wala pa rin atang Goldilock's at Red Ribbon duon.-
said... MABUHAY ANG FILIPINO PANADERYA.
