Things are looking even brighter for Sunshine Farmers and Community Multipurpose Cooperative (SUFAMCO), operator of Sunshine Bakery, as this community-based cooperative in Sirawan, Toril, Davao City continues to grow its businesses.
The cooperative, which earlier received baking equipment from TSI, Pilmico Foods and Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., has steadily been growing its customer base in the area for its bread and pastries. As their products increase in demand, AboitizPower subsidiary Therma South, Inc. donated a 15-blade bread slicer to SUFAMCO last 13 December 2017 to further support their operations.
“This bread slicer will really help with our production time. We can bake up to 12 loaves of bread in our oven at a time. The time it takes from making the dough to baking to cutting the loaves manually usually take up to 3 hours. We’ll surely be able to lessen the production time with this bread slicer,” said Solomon Gallardo, SUFAMCO member and baker, in the vernacular.
Sufamco is the partner cooperative of TSI and Aboitiz Foundation. The coop set up a local bakery after 5 of its members acquired a National Certificate (NC) II on Baking and Pastry last January 2017 through a training sponsored by Aboitiz Foundation. “We never really expected to create a bakery. It wasn’t in our plans until Aboitiz provided us with training and capital. From there, we’re doing our best to grow our businesses. We can’t thank you enough for helping us,” said Menrado Intong, Sufamco Chairman. (PR)
Original Article: AboitizPower
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Sunshine Bakery model demonstrate about cooperative-based livelihood development?
Sunshine Bakery demonstrates that cooperative structures can effectively translate external support into self-sustaining enterprise. The bakery generates real market revenues from community bread sales, reducing its dependence on ongoing donations after the initial capitalization phase. The cooperative model distributes both ownership and income across multiple members, ensuring that the benefits of the enterprise are shared rather than captured by a single beneficiary. The bread slicer donation accelerates the bakery’s growth trajectory by removing a production bottleneck — a targeted investment in operational efficiency rather than another round of start-up support.
Who is SUFAMCO and how did they come to operate Sunshine Bakery?
SUFAMCO — Sunshine Farmers and Community Multipurpose Cooperative — is a community-based cooperative in Sirawan, Toril, Davao City. The cooperative established Sunshine Bakery after five of its members acquired National Certificate (NC) II on Baking and Pastry in January 2017 through a training program sponsored by Aboitiz Foundation. The training and initial baking equipment were provided by TSI (Therma South, Inc., an AboitizPower subsidiary), Pilmico Foods, and Aboitiz Foundation. Sunshine Bakery was not a planned business but emerged from the training and capital support — a community initiative that grew beyond its original scope.
What was the bread slicer donation and why was it significant for operations?
AboitizPower subsidiary Therma South, Inc. donated a 15-blade bread slicer to SUFAMCO on December 13, 2017. SUFAMCO member and baker Solomon Gallardo explained that the cooperative could bake up to 12 loaves at a time, but the previous manual cutting process took approximately three hours from dough-making to bread slicing. The bread slicer was expected to significantly reduce production time — allowing the bakery to serve more customers more quickly and increasing output capacity without additional labor or raw material costs.
What did SUFAMCO Chairman Menrado Intong say about the Aboitiz Group’s role in the cooperative’s business?
SUFAMCO Chairman Menrado Intong was candid and grateful: the cooperative never actually planned to create a bakery. The idea was not in their original plans until Aboitiz provided training and capital. His statement captures the catalytic role that external support can play in community enterprise — sometimes the limiting factor is not willingness or work ethic but access to training and initial resources, which Aboitiz provided in a way that enabled SUFAMCO to envision and pursue something they had not previously considered possible.
How does this initiative fit within the broader Aboitiz Group ecosystem of CSR activities in Davao?
Therma South, Inc. (TSI) is AboitizPower’s subsidiary serving Mindanao’s power needs. As an Aboitiz Group company, TSI maintains a responsibility to invest in the livelihood of communities in its operational area. The bread slicer donation builds on TSI and Aboitiz Foundation’s earlier investments in SUFAMCO — baking equipment and NC II training — reflecting a sustained, multi-year relationship rather than a single intervention. This ongoing engagement model is consistent with how the broader Aboitiz ecosystem approaches community partnership across its various subsidiaries.
