From beginners to experienced bakers, the Wooden Spoon Business Innovation center has proven that passion for the craft and an open mind play an important role in starting a successful baking business.

A joint project by Aboitiz food subsidiary Pilmico and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Women’s Center, the Wooden Spoon Business Innovation facility provides opportunities for women and aspiring business owners to get started on their very own bakery business. Interested participants are screened by accredited TESDA trainers in order to determine their eligibility.

In April, the first batch of the Bread and Pastry production NCII enrollees completed their certification program. Self-taught baker and online entrepreneur, Pherlie, decided to enroll in the Wooden Spoon NCII training program to gain more understanding in the technical aspect of baking and overall, improve her way of doing business.

“Kahit may alam ka na about baking, iba pa rin talaga kapag stinep-by-step. Ang laking tulong nito dahil dati sa YouTube lang ako nag-aaral [dati] kaya thank you talaga sa program na ito”, she shares.

The Wooden Spoon NCII Bakery & Pastry Production Program

The training is divided into three phases, each tackling a specific area of study for trainees: basic, common, and core competencies.

The first phase is a deep dive into the science of baking and the different types of flour. These training sessions will then crossover to phase two which are hands-on activities where participants learn about basic bread and pastry recipes. Phase three puts emphasis on the recipes given and lets the participants innovate with professional baking techniques. Within these classroom and hands-on workshops, TESDA also incorporates other useful sessions including entrepreneurial mind-setting, business registration how-tos, and costing.

The facility also enables the trainees to gain experience in running an actual business with Cafe Juana. The bakery cafe is located within the Wooden Spoon facility and is run by the trainees themselves. It is here where they get to sell, serve, and interact with customers within the TESDA Compound.

Through this experience, enrollees are further encouraged to begin their business. Beginner baker and recently retired, Ellen, entered the workshop with learning as her primary motivation.

“Yung pagpasok ko talaga dito, ang gusto ko talaga ay matuto lang. Beginner pa lang din ako pero after nitong program, narealize ko na baka pwede nga in the future maging business ko siya”, tells Ellen.

Even with beginners and experienced bakers all training in one class, the class adopted a more collaborative learning environment where all the participants, together with their trainer, worked together to create a better training experience for everyone.

“For this batch, may mga experienced bakers na talaga and meron din mga no-experience at all. Mayroon kaming tinatawag na prio learning. This means yung mga less experienced mas may guidance sila as compared to those na meron na. For experienced naman, magbibigay kami ng activities sa kanila na katapat ng skill level din nila. Ang maganda pa nga dito, nagiging team talaga ang buong class dahil nag tutulungan kami lahat para matuto and maimprove ang skills ng isa’t isa”, May explains.

The next steps for the program graduates

Equipped with new knowledge on baking and entrepreneurship, the newly certified TESDA trainees are encouraged to engage in further learning. Pilmico’s government partners, TESDA and DTI Go Negosyo, are putting up ladderized courses on entrepreneurship to develop the enrollees’ business mindset. These courses are included in their 7M’s framework that aims to give focus on the following: mindset, mastery, mentorship, money, machine, market, and models. These will hopefully spark inspiration and develop future MSMEs in the bread and pastry industry.

Committed to being a Partner for Growth, Pilmico, together with TESDA Women’s Center, continuously looks for avenues to provide trainees of the program with opportunities, industry advice, and business knowledge to secure their futures as baker entrepreneurs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Pherlie’s experience as a self-taught baker enrolled in the program illustrate?
Pherlie, an experienced online entrepreneur and self-taught baker, enrolled in the Wooden Spoon NC II program not to learn baking from scratch but to understand its technical foundations and improve her business. Her experience illustrates that the program serves a meaningful function for experienced practitioners — not just beginners. By formalizing what she already knew intuitively through step-by-step technical training, Pherlie gained the systematic understanding of why baking works that self-learning through YouTube cannot fully provide, strengthening the basis on which her business operates.

What is Cafe Juana and what purpose does it serve within the Wooden Spoon program?
Cafe Juana is a functioning cafe located within the Wooden Spoon facility at the TESDA Compound in Taguig City. It is run by the trainees themselves — not by professional staff — giving students direct experience in customer service, product pricing, sales management, and the operational rhythms of an actual food service business. This hands-on business simulation element sets the Wooden Spoon apart from conventional bakery training programs that prepare students only for production without giving them exposure to the commercial side of the enterprise.

How does the three-phase training structure of the Wooden Spoon NC II program work?
The NC II Bread and Pastry Production training is organized into three sequential phases. Phase one covers the science of baking — including the chemistry of flour, leavening, and temperature — and the different types of flour and their applications. Phase two transitions to hands-on practice with basic bread and pastry recipes. Phase three advances to professional techniques and recipe innovation, pushing trainees to move beyond formulaic production into creative adaptation. TESDA incorporates entrepreneurship sessions — business registration, costing, and mindset training — throughout all three phases.

How does the collaborative learning environment among mixed-experience trainees benefit everyone?
The Wooden Spoon classes intentionally mix beginners with experienced bakers, and the program applies a differentiated instruction approach called prio learning — providing more guidance to those with less experience while giving more challenging activities to experienced participants. The class also functions as a team, with trainees learning from one another rather than competing. This collaborative structure reflects the reality of actual bakery environments where both technique-sharing and peer learning are natural parts of daily operation.

What steps come after graduation from the Wooden Spoon NC II program?
Graduation is positioned explicitly as the beginning rather than the end. TESDA and DTI Go Negosyo are building ladderized entrepreneurship courses — structured as the 7M’s framework covering Mindset, Mastery, Mentorship, Money, Machine, Market, and Models — designed to systematically develop graduates from certified bakers into viable business owners. Pilmico continues its partnership role by providing opportunities, industry advice, and ongoing business knowledge to graduates who are pursuing their own bakery enterprises.