Kneading for the needy, this business owner bakes bread to help frontliners

MANILA, Philippine – It’s not always business for Binthau bakeshop.  

During the pandemic, the owners of this bakeshop in Binangonan, Rizal, set aside concerns of making a profit and chose to feed the needy with their bread. 

While the lockdown presented several challenges – food orders have decreased and suppliers of raw materials became limited – these did not hinder the bakeshop in extending its food services.

If the pandemic has heavily affected businesses like Binthau, bakeshop owner Jose Carpio Doton thought of poor and needy communities who have no choice but to face the problems brought about by the health crisis.

“Bilang Pilipino na malakas ang loob at may pananampalataya sa Panginoon, laban lang, kaya natin ‘yan (As strong-willed Filipinos who have faith in the Lord, just fight on. We can do it),” Doton said. 

For Doton, distributing food to the hungry, soldiers, medical practioners, and other frontliners kept him going. (READ: LIST: Groups help vulnerable sectors affected by coronavirus lockdown) 

The bakeshop, which continued to sell bread, also purchased personal protective equipment (PPEs) and distributed them to frontliners.

As of April 23, Binthau Bakeshop donated about P40,000 in food items. (READ: This one-month-old bakeshop is donating its profits to help child abuse survivors)

It was not the first time for the owners of the bakeshop to help those in need. They also supplied bread for flood victims people in Ormoc City in Leyte, and to the evacuees during the Taal eruption.

Where it started

Doton’s heart for the needy can be traced back to his humble beginnings. 

At the age of 9, Doton left Pangasinan to find a job in Manila. At a young age, he started to work as a helper in a small tailor shop.

His job included sweeping the floor, cleaning the surroundings, watering the plants, delivering messages for other people, and doing other leg work for the tailor shop.

Doton grew up doing all these things every day. Life was tough but he did not let himself stay below the breadline. He learned how to drive, he became the driver delivered the tailored clothes to Greenhills. 

Doton met the love of his life – a Chinese woman who was willing to leave everything behind her just to be with him. Their parents were against their marriage but they never considered their love as half-baked.

 Doton became a taxi driver and his wife became a tutor. Realizing Doton’s passion for cooking, they also opened a small canteen.  As their family grew, the couple worked double time to make both ends meet.

When their canteen business started to become stable, his wife decided to resign from her job to focus on their business. She served the customers well and became his husband’s secretary and collector.

Meanwhile, Doton juggled his tasks as a father, taxi driver, cook, and delivery man. Aside from their buzzing busy life during weekdays, the couple also peddled clothes at weekend bazaars. They brought their two children with them everywhere. 

After doing this routine for years, they were able to save enough to rent a place where they sold different kinds of eggs, but they had to give up their canteen business.

One afternoon, as they were contemplating on how they worked hard so that their children would have an easier life than theirs, they noticed the bakery in front of them with customers lining up.

The bakery encountered internal problems which almost led to its closure. Since there was no other bakeshop in the area, the couple asked if they could manage the store. They stopped their egg business and focused on the bakeshop.

Later on, they decided to bake their own bread. They sought help from an uncle who was willing to teach them, lent them an oven, and even let his baker stay with them to make bread.

They named their bakery “Binthau” which means “bread store” in Chinese. Through time, they gained more and more customers. Their business flourished and they then decided to just focus on supplying bread to other bakeries. 

As a supplier, the demand for bread grew. Binthau Bakeshop needed to produce more at a specific time. This led them to seek assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Through DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Programthey (SETUP), Doton was provided with machinery and equipment that would help them increase their production, an intervention that helped the business to do more. 

Doton’s tough life experiences kneaded him to have a soft heart for those in need.

Aside from helping out victims of disasters, he has also supplied bread to several outreach programs conducted by the DOST. – Rappler.com