Bizman finds magic in making ensaymada

It started with a small bakery set up in a small space along Sabellano Street in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City in 1999, twelve years after they have become a brand known as a local delicacy usually bought as a pasalubong item for loved ones.

The Magic Melt boxes of ensaymadas that you so enjoy at home with the family was started by Wilson Lumakang with an investment of only about P150,000 in 1999. He had then three people to help him in the operations.

According to Carolyn Go, chief executive officer of Magic Melt Foods, Inc., her brother started the business banking only on the given fact that Cebuanos love to eat bread like ensaymada.

“He got a partner who knew how to make ensaymadas. It was in a rented place in Labangon in an 800 square meter area, which used to be a garden and he converted into the main baking operations area,” Go said.

Soon demand for other products aside from ensaymada grew and the family then decided to expand their product lines offering more favorites like Biscocho, Otap, Rosquillos, Mamon Tostado and more.

The products were then marketed in major retail chains in Cebu and soon entered the foreign market in 2005 when they started to export to the United States and then the following year to Canada.

The expansion of the market created another requirement for the group in terms of additional capacity and the implementation of food safety standards.

The partners made another investment by leasing a 9,000 square meter lot in barangay Buyong, Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan Island for their new plant.

From only 240 pieces of ensaimada capacity, the plant allowed them to expand their capacity to as much as 130,000 pieces in one shift.

“The plant can accommodate three shifts which we usually have during peak seasons like December,” said Go.

For their marketing and distributions, Go said that they tapped major retail chains and also set up outlets or carts in strategic areas to make their brand and products more visible.

At present Magic Melt has eight outlets in Cebu for distribution and retail and six in Manila.

“We are in SM, Ayala, Calye Cafe inside Calye Sugbo Pasalubong Center, Robinsons Cybergate, Banilad, Guadalupe, Juana Osmena and just recently in J Center Mall. In Manila we have carts in MRT Ayala, ABS-CBN, in Globe Telecom, Ocean Park and Star Mall,” she said.

According to Go, they are happy at the level that they have reached now from just a small bakery-type of operations to a whole plant that now employs at least 120 people.

“We will push further with our plans of getting more certification for food safety standards because we want to be known not only as a brand that offers delicious products but also a brand that applies strict procedures for food safety to protect our costumers,” she said.

Magic Melt is currently the only pasalubong brand with a Halal Certification.

“For food safety, we follow the philosophy of producing safe products by investing in the facility and our team. We even have internal auditors to ensure that we are always following the standards,” she said.

For the group, investment on food safety is never a loss as they consider it their way of differentiating their product and competing with other major brands that now opened facilities in Cebu.

“The competition has always been there, even stiffer now with the presence of other brands from other regions now also aggressively tapping the Cebu market. For us, making sure we have delicious, safe and value for money products is our way to strengthen our brand and get our own slice of the market.”

Go added that they will also be aggressively expanding their presence in other key destinations in the country by franchise agreements.

“We started offering franchises in 2009 and we will be using that as a strategy for aggressive expansions,” she said.

Aside from that, the group is also keen on expanding their foreign markets to tap other countries in the world.

At present, they are already in America, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

More products are also currently being developed in their R&D Department according to Go.

“We have about 20 to 30 products in the pipeline that we hope to also start offering to our customers soon,” said Go.