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What is the concept behind Mika’San?
MIKA’SAN Sweetshop was borne out of a couple’s necessity to generate income in order to raise a family.
It was in 1994, a few years after the couple Liza and German left their NGO work when they needed to figure out how they could raise their son and daughter who were already aged seven and four, respectively. Liza was already teaching at UP Baguio while German had no steady job and income.
Liza had a background in baking and cooking since her elementary grades because her mother who was a widow, exposed and involved her together with her two siblings in the production of cakes and sweets like peanut brittle and barquillos, as her mother’s means of generating additional income from being a public school teacher. Liza further gained more skills in baking and cooking from her arts and trades school in her secondary education.
Since Liza had a background in baking and making sweets way back in her high school days, the couple started to produce cakes and candies like the popular butterscotch bars of the Visayas and the traditional sugar and caramel-coated yema which they started to market to friends. Upon the prodding of Liza’s brother-in-law who owned a bakery in Manila, they decided to set-up a bakery along Magsaysay Avenue in Baguio City where the new building of Supreme Hotel now stands. The outfit was named MIKA’SAN Sweetshop.
MIKA’SAN Sweetshop as a bakery produced both ordinary bread like pan de sal, cakes, pastries, cookies and other sweets. Ordinary bread catered to customers in the neighborhood. Special cakes were prepared on a per order basis. Cupcakes and other sweets were supplied to schools and office canteens.
From the bakery, income was generated mostly from sale of special cakes and other sweets such as choc’o mallows and yema. Ordinary bread did not make money at that time.
After only a few months of operation, they decided to close the shop along Magsaysay for two reasons. First, since it was the cakes and sweets that made money, they could reduce operational cost if production was done back at home where they started. Second, they were uncomfortable with the idea that the production of ordinary bread line depended much on the skills of the hired bakers.
After operation was transferred back to their rented apartment in Lourdes Subdivision, they focused on the production of cakes for special occasions, cupcakes, candies, choc’o mallows and molded chocolates which they continued to supply to their regular customers and other interested outlets.