ISABELA CITY, Basilan – A local bakery in Isabela City that serves native Tausog pastries and
other native delicacies will soon get an upgrade with more than half a million
fund support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-IX.
In a press release, the science and
technology department in region nine said that it recently released the
innovation system support assistance amounting to P 604,500.00 to Isabela
Seaport General Merchant.
This local bakery was established in
2008, which has gradually taken its foothold as the native Tausug’s favorite
bread and food service in town. The bakeshop offers sumptuous bread
products and tasty local delicacies like junay (spicy peppered rice), waked
(sticky rice), pasung and tabid-tabid (a.k.a. chikalang).
The project entitled “Upgrading of
Bakery Equipment and Facilities” was intended to benefit the Isabela Seaport
Bakery and Restaurants through the DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading
Program (SETUP).
In this project, DOST-IX’s
interventions include
system improvement, product improvement, manpower development through trainings
on food safety and good manufacturing practices, and process improvement.
The project assistance covers the
acquisition of bakeshop equipment such as dough roller, oven with 24 plates,
bread slicer, spiral mixer, cake mixer, stainless steel stove, steel racks (36
plates cap), stainless steel working table and planza.
According to
the DOST, through the project, the firm is expected to increase its volume of
production by 30%; create local jobs; increase income by at least 30%; develop
at least two new product lines; meet customers’ demand of the products in the
market; and acquire equipment and facilities needed to improve quality of bread
and pastries.
SETUP is a nationwide strategy to
encourage and assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in
implementing technological innovations and improvements in their operations to
boost their productivity and competitiveness.