Universal Robina Corporation (URC) salutes the talent of Filipino youth in bread and pastry making as it recently hosted a friendly baking showdown. The company's Flour and Pasta Division hosted the bake-off under the Flourish Pilipinas program with the participation of select public senior high school (SHS) students.
The bake-off not only put the skills of SHS students to the test but also enabled them to showcase the knowledge they gained from the classes and multimedia learning toolkits produced by URC and DepEd. The student participants gamely made delicious loaves of bread and one-of-a-kind cake recipes at URC's newest baking facility, the Baker John Academy.
A home for baking talents
The Baker John Academy is also URC's first baking school located in the rising Bridgetowne business hub along E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue in Libis, Quezon City. The 179-square meter facility is complete with state-of-the-art equipment and machine for bread and pastry production. It also serves as an interactive laboratory and venue for budding bread makers, pastry chefs, and culinary enthusiasts supported by URC Flour. A lobby café also serves as a showcase of URC Flour’s renowned bread products under the Baker John brand.
A program for honing talents
Through the Flourish Pilipinas program, public SHS students taking up bread and pastry making classes in the technical-vocational track of the DepEd curriculum are allowed to discover and hone their potential in bread and pastry making. Furthermore, URC believes that with its partnership with DepEd, more Filipino students will be able to try their hand at the rewarding and fulfilling profession of bread and pastry making. It has been the company's vision through the Flourish Pilipinas program to promote bread and pastry baking as a source of livelihood and enterprise.
A bake-off for budding talents
Under the program, two students and a coach per category represented their school. The schools that competed are Benigno Ninoy Aquino High School, Camansi National High School, Don Enrique Bustamante National High School, Fort Bonifacio High School, Mahayag National High School, Makati High School, Mulig National High School, Sta. Ana National High School, and Sta. Lucia High School.
The Macabasa bread entry of the Makati High School which made them won the competition under the Bread Category.
At the end of the bake-off, Sta. Lucia High School in Pasig City emerged as the Champion under the pastry category. The winner for the bread category, on the other hand, is the Makati High School. Both teams went home with cash prizes, baking products from URC and program partners, and start-up capital for an online bakery.
