Last July, Pilmico extended the Kutitap Feeding Program to the kids of Calangitan Elementary and Manga Elementary in Capas, Tarlac. Aptly launched during nutrition month, the kids’ daily meals were supplemented by nutritious breads and biscuits made from Pilmico flour.
The Kutitap Feeding Program in Tarlac delivers daily breads to students to give them the energy they need for school in the morning. This program seamlessly aligns with the DepEd’s school-based feeding program that serves a full lunch meal to the students.
“Malaking tulong kasi nagstastart and school-based feeding namin ng 11 so bago magfeeding ng 11 pinapakain pa namin sila ng bread. Ngayon, dahil umaga pa lang ay nakakakain na sila mas nagiging active sila. Mahirap kasi yung magconcentrate talaga ng gutom, diba?” – Liza Mendoza, Nutrition Coordinator, Manga Elementary School
“Napakablessed ng Calangitan, lalo na ang mga bata dito. Kung minsan nga walang pasok so sa susunod na linggo o araw, dumodoble ang order at mas maraming tinapay nakukuha nila. Natuto na rin sila magshare kasi kung minsan may sobra, binibigyan nila yung mga batang walang baon. Yung mga walang baon naman mas pumapasok na rin sila dahil alam nilang may tinapay para sa kanila.” – Zaldy Altomas, Calangitan Elementary School
Now, almost 6 months after, the kids of Calangitan and Manga Elementary School are happier and livelier with fuller tummies and brighter minds.
More than just for the kids, the Kutitap Feeding Program also helps the local bakeshop, Norlyn’s Bakery, as the supplier of breads for the schools.
Started in 1997, the family-owned Norlyn’s Bakery started out in Baguio but found their forever home in Tarlac City in 1999. Owner, Normelinda Chavez, attests to using Pilmico Flour almost the same time they started operations in Tarlac as it was also highly recommended by their supplier.
With their bakery based in Tarlac City, Normelinda expresses that the challenging distance between Tarlac City and Capas is menial compared to the help it gives their business and the value for money she gets from our flour.
“Malaking tulong talaga eh kahit na malayo. Yung flour pa maraming nagagawang tinapay tsaka alam na rin ng customers ko ang quality at ineexpect na nila ito. Nagpapasalamat talaga ako dahil kami ang napili para sa Kutitap Feeding Program.” – Normelinda Chavez, Owner, Norlyn’s Bakery
The Kutitap Feeding Program is a prime example of how we advance business and communities. We provide quality products and trusted service to our local bakery customer which in turn create a lasting and positive impact to the communities of Manga and Calangitan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Tarlac Kutitap expansion illustrate about the program’s replicability?
The original Kutitap Feeding Program has been operating in Iligan City since 2013. The July 2018 launch at Calangitan and Manga Elementary Schools in Capas, Tarlac was the program’s first successful provincial expansion. The Tarlac pilot demonstrated that the three-element model — Pilmico flour, a local bakery partner, and school distribution — works in communities outside Iligan, and produced the same outcomes: improved nutrition, better attendance, and new institutional revenue for a local bakery. This replicability is what makes Kutitap a scalable national model rather than a Iligan-specific program.
How does the Kutitap Feeding Program in Tarlac complement DepEd’s school-based feeding program?
DepEd’s school-based feeding program in the partner schools provides a full lunch meal starting at 11 AM. The Kutitap Program fills the critical earlier gap — distributing nutritious breads made from Pilmico flour to students at the start of the school day. Nutrition Coordinator Liza Mendoza of Manga Elementary School explained that students who eat bread in the morning are more active and better able to concentrate throughout the morning academic hours before the lunch program begins. The two programs function as complementary layers of the same nutritional safety net.
What was the impact of the program on student behavior at Calangitan Elementary School?
School official Zaldy Altomas of Calangitan Elementary School observed several behavioral changes that emerged within the program’s first six months. Students who received bread learned to share with classmates who had no lunch money — a spontaneous social solidarity behavior that the bread distribution catalyzed. More notably, attendance improved among previously irregular students: knowing that bread would be available for them at school became a concrete daily incentive for children who might otherwise have stayed home.
Who is Normelinda Chavez and how did her bakery become the Kutitap supplier in Tarlac?
Normelinda Chavez is the owner of Norlyn’s Bakery — a family-owned bakeshop that began in Baguio in 1997 and relocated to Tarlac City in 1999. Her bakery was selected as the local supplier for the Kutitap Feeding Program in Tarlac. Normelinda has been using Pilmico Flour since nearly the time she began operations in Tarlac, having been introduced to it through her supplier. When her bakery became the Kutitap bread supplier, the daily institutional orders from the program provided consistent, predictable revenue that supported the bakery’s business stability and community impact simultaneously.
What challenges did the Tarlac Kutitap program face, and how were they addressed?
One logistical challenge was the distance between Norlyn’s Bakery in Tarlac City and the partner schools in Capas — a gap that required daily delivery of fresh bread. Normelinda described this as menial compared to the help the program provides both to her business and in terms of value for money from Pilmico flour. The distance was managed through regular delivery logistics rather than modified with a local production point — illustrating that supply chain commitment was considered worth sustaining even with the transportation requirement.
