Chapter I

Company Profile

HISTORY

The company was started by a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Felipe Dy Eng Chong better

known as “Tito Peping” and “Ma’am Fely” in a rented garage space along Elias Angeles Street,

Naga City in 1976. It was just a four-table small “turoturo” eatery: the restaurant was then called

Graceland Food Center, named after their youngest daughter, Grace.

The workforce was composed mainly of family members. “Tiyo Peping” handled the

finances, “Ma’am Fely” did the cooking and the children did all sorts of job like preparing foods,

washing dishes, cleaning tables, and attending to customers’ needs.

The company was not spared from trials and hardship. Two stores caught fire in 1978 and

1980. It was during those hard times that company took the opportunity to resort to lots of

creativity and imagination. Graceland introduced innovation on products to upgrade and improve

the quality of service.

The stiffest competition came in the 90’s when the big and known food chain entered the

Bicol Region, specifically in Naga City. It shook the local food industry and Graceland was not

spared from it. However, instead of giving up, it fought and it focused! With the focusing, it was

able to analyze and understand its problem better. Rather than view competition negatively, the

entry of giant food industries paved the way for the company to use them as a benchmarks; they

saw them as mentors and they learned a lot from them. Innovation of products, packaging,

manpower, store lay-out and motif and other major concerns were developed through the

creativity, enthusiasm, hard work and patience.

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 The rapid expansion of the company transpired in the 90’s. The company embraced the

business philosophy of “Serving customer with quality food at an affordable price with

distinction”. Graceland came out with its own brand of hamburger, cakes, pizza, pasta, and many

more. With these came the need to improve on technology and obtain additional workforce.

Graceland is offering more than burger-spaghetti-chicken, there’s one choice that is

guaranteed to satisfy your craving for taste and variety-Graceland. As their claim to fame is our

Bicolano heritage-their best sellers are their two innovative Bicolano dishes: Bicol Special-which

is tasty Pork chop and Pinangat and Lechon Bicol Express-which is a combination of crunchy

lechon kawali and hot Bicol Express. Truly, they appeal to the panlasang bicolano both local and

tourists.

After its growth in Naga, the company ventured in the province of Albay. The company

continued to evolve; thus, the birth of Geewan, Baker’s Plaza, and Red Platter dwelled.

As they enter shoe Mart Mall, it their great privilege to join the famous establishment

wherein Bakers Plaza will again face new challenges with its competitors. They view this entry

as their way of lifting the mark of standard they aim to achieve to have strong foothold in the

industry.

Bakers Plaza was launch in the year 1996. The name was derived from “Baker” which is

mainly because bakers make the breads and pastries; Plaza is from the geographical location of

the store. The very first Baker’s was established near the plaza about 16 years ago (thus the name

“Plaza”). However, they had long been incorporated their breads before it’s just that it has no

name at all. The breads were all under the name Graceland. They wanted it to emerge as one

distinct brand. It’s as if they opted to separate their bread and pastry product lines from the

umbrella company, Graceland, for more recognition.

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 It has whipped up delectable array of specialty refrigerated cakes like Black Forest,

Creamy Ube Cake, Concorde, Tiramisu, Crema de Fruta and a lot more. Indulge yourself with

these treat or share the happiness when you bring them home “pasalubong” or as a gift on special

occasions. It also has a lot of “masa” breads which can be bought at a lower prices than those

mentioned before. These are slice breads, pan de sal, pan legazpi, crinkles, and many more. Even

though there are a lot of varieties when it comes to their products, we are assured by the

freshness and taste of their products.

Bakers Plaza now has outlets in Legazpi, Sorsogon, Tabaco, Pili, Iriga, Ligao, Daet and

Polangui. The need to specialize and cater to specific needs of the people was the reason behind

the expansion.

It had not been an easy journey, but as they go on, they have proven that despite the entry

of multinational companies, they have stood their ground. Indeed, Graceland Food Industries,

Inc. will continue to soar not just for Bicolano costumer but also for the individuals from

different parts of the country who continue to visit the Province of Bicol. They are proud to the

Bicolanos!

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VISION

“We live in an independent and caring world

Where we ought to be the role model of our communities

Living the values of Truth, Loyalty, Humility, Competitiveness, and Service;

Where we provide opportunities for work, growth, and a better life;

Thus, leading us to a happier and over more-contended community of people.”

This vision statement suggests that Baker’s Plaza and all other businesses of Graceland

Food Industries Inc., views the world to be independent and caring and that all of us must be a

role model for other people. They provide work opportunities which lead to the growth and the

better lives of their fellowmen. These opportunities, in their own point of view will pave the path

towards a better-off and more-satisfied society.

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MISSION

“We will have a national presence in the food industry

Establishing our leadership

In the price value relationship

And service beyond customer satisfaction;

And by providing a unique ambiance in every store

And a wide variety of products of the highest standards.

We, the dynamic and committed Graceland people,

Strive for the best interest of our family, co-employees and our associate

All for the glory of God.”

Their mission statement implies their ambitions to be one of the patronized companies

when it comes to cakes and pastries and the food industry as well. They want to institute their

leadership in the lives of their customers. They are actively committed to seek what is the best

for their families, co-employees, and associates. This, they do for the greater glory of God.

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COMPANY VALUES:

Truth, Loyalty Humility, Caring, Competitiveness, Integrity, Leadership,

Costumer's Satisfaction, Role Models, Teamwork, and Commitment

As a food industry, they believed in the values of integrity. They have the philosophy that

for a business to be successful each of them---comprising or part of the business must cooperate

instead of hiding secrets from each other, and that only the truth shall prevail. In a business, it is

natural to have competition; they suppose that good leadership will lead to a systematic and

organized business. In every product they produce, what they give is the highest standard and

good service because they think of their customer satisfaction. They see to it that they are loyal

to their customers in terms of pricing their products. They do care for their customers and want

to serve as role models of our community

Even though the company is one of the top businesses in Bicol, they still keep in mind

everything they have gone through in the process. Humility is one key to success as proven by

the GFII and Baker’s Plaza. However, they are not the only business in the food industry; they

must acquire competitiveness to keep up to their rivals.

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 GFII ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

MARKETING
HUMAN RESOURCES - Advertising & Promotions
-Recruitment, Selection & OPERATIONS
- Market study
Orientation - Sales and other services
- Stores adherence to food, -Monitoring of competitor activities
-Formulation of Policy and Monitor of service and cleanliness - Evaluation of promotional activities
discipline standards -Customer Feedback
-Employee relations & Activities -Customer relations
-PA, Exams & Promotions
-Newsletter & other Correspondents
GFII

RESEARCH
PURCHASING
& DEVELOPMENT
- Procurement
- Improvement of of
stocks
existing
& supplies
products
- Stocks
- Research
monitoring
of new products
- Negotiations
- Product testing
on deliveries, terms
and
-Maintenance
payments and quality standard

ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE /

ACCOUNTING
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
- Variance inventory
DEPARTMENT
-Sales auditingCOMMISSARY
- Procurement of equipment &
- Budget control & monitoring
BAKE HOUSE & CPA
other machines
- Check- Food
and cash payment
- Improvementsprocessing
on store’s&ambience
disbursements
preparation of meat, breads,
and lay-out
- Bookkeeping
- Survey cakes, & pastrysites
of prospective products
- Payroll & benefits administration
- Building- Delivery schedules
construction and

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 PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS DEPARTMENTS

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
1. Bakehouse (BH)
2. Central Processing Area (CPA)

STORE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT (Branches)

1. FASTFOOD RESTAURANT
 Geewan
 Geewan – SM Foodcourt

2. GRACELAND STORES
 Graceland – Legaspi
 Graceland – Sorsogon
 Graceland – Tabaco
 Graceland – Pacific Mall
 Graceland – Pili
 Graceland – Daet
 Graceland – Shoe Mart

3. BAKESHOP
 Baker’s Plaza – Naga
 Baker’s Plaza – Pili
 Baker’s Plaza – Iriga
 Baker’s Plaza – Ligao
 Baker’s Plaza – Polangui
 All Graceland outlets

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U
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W PRODUCTION & OPERATION RELATIONSHIP

The Production Deapartment produces food products needed by the stores (Operations
Department) to serve the customers. Hence, the stores are the Production’s outlet of finished
products. The stores serve these products to the customers.

CHAIN OF COMMAND IN STORE OPERATIONS

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K
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(
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)
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILIITIES:

STORE HEAD – manages the entire operation of store/department.

STATION SUPERVISOR – direct superior of Sevice Crew and in-charge with the operation.

REGULAR SERVICE CREW – usually handles trainees and with different functions in any
stations.

MARKETING COORDINATOR – in-charge of promo, novelty items, kiddie parties, customer

relations and other marketing-related activities of the store.

CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYEES – Service Crew under training and contractual employment

contracts and maybe assigned in any station.

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 Chapter II

Inventory Management

Inventory Management is one of the most crucial parts of operations and productions

management which aims to provide the desired level of customer service, to allow cost-efficient

service and to minimize the inventory investment. It comes in many form; raw materials,

components, work-in-process, finished goods, distribution inventory and maintenance, repairs

and operating supplies (MRO).

For Baker’s Plaza, a company that produces and sells its goods, keeping an accurate

inventory management system is very important. Situated in Barlin Street, Naga City, the

Baker’s Plaza production plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is the sole

production facility of the company for the entire Bicol region. The operation is continuous in

order to respond to the demand of its distribution outlets as well as to guarantee its “Baked Fresh

Daily” standard.

The number of units produced every day is not uniform because only the number of

orders placed by the distribution outlets is complied by the plant; thus, managers forecast their

orders on a daily basis as well. In doing so, they take into account the trend on sales for a

particular period. For instance, there is greater number of products being sold during weekends

compared on weekdays. Hence, more products will be ordered and produced for Saturday and

Sunday.

Because of the actual orders placed that will be produced system, the burden of

forecasting accurately and selling the products is part of the responsibility of the stores especially

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for the branches located outside Camarines Sur. Managers from other branches such as Sorsogon

and Daet usually encounter difficulties when they experience shortage of products. They cannot

immediately ask for supplies from the factory unlike, branches such as the Baker’s Plaza they

can easily respond to the shortage since they are just few blocks away so long as there are

available finished goods.

On the other hand, in case of unsold goods, its cost will be borne by the branch and be

part of their expense. This usually happens when the products remain unsold within their one

week life span after the production. After being subjected to 20% discount before its due shelf

life, still unsold products will be immediately pulled from the store.

Because of their high quality standard and perishable nature of their products, Baker’s

Plaza highlights the importance of an accurate inventory system which relies not only to the

hands of the effective sales and marketing but also to precise forecasting.

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 Chapter III

Quality Assurance

Quality is perhaps one of the greatest determinants of product success. It should be given

tremendous attention and observed with the highest and finest standards.

Baker’s Plaza aims to keep their guaranteed fresh daily standard for all their products

that’s why they make sure to observe the production until the distribution of produced goods

with utmost care. To ensure the quality and standard of their products, they carefully address the

needs of the raw materials, processes of production, packaging, storage and distributions.

Raw materials are the basic need in order to realize the manufacturing of the bread and

pastries. Quality starts from the selection of direct materials. Each type of products has definite

materials needed. Baker’s Plaza has specific suppliers of the materials who have been their

partners ever since they started. They prefer to acquire their supplies locally particularly in Bicol

Region because it is less costly, less hassle since their plant is also located in Bicol and most

especially, they believe that their supplies would satisfies the Bicolanos’ taste.

However, they also import other materials from other provinces or abroad to further

improve their products and be more competitive in the market.

The process of production is very important to ensure the safety and quality of the

product produced.

The Graceland Food Industries Inc. has one plant that operates 24/7 located at Barlin

Street, Naga City. The plant produces all the products of the company and distributes them as

well to all the branches including Baker’s Plaza. Moreover, the production is based on the orders

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sent by the store managers. The store manager of Baker’s Plaza is responsible in forecasting their

demand. They will not produce any goods that would exceed the order to guarantee the freshness

of the products.

Furthermore, all the machines and equipment used in the process are highly automated

and imported abroad. The production is highly supervised by well-trained engineers and cooks to

ensure that the safety of the products, the employees and the community are observe.

On the other hand, packaging is very essential in every product. It is a critical factor that

would even affect its marketability and public reception. Baker’s Plaza uses an eco-friendly

plastic for the packaging of their products. They make sure that the chemicals of the plastics

won’t cause any contamination or damage to the product itself and to the customers. Moreover,

to lessen the chemical content of the plastics, they prefer plain or with little design packaging.

Usually, it contains only necessary information of the product and the company such as its

product name, logo and tag line.

Baker’s Plaza’s products are given a life span of no longer than one week because they

prefer to apply lesser amount of preservatives rather than risking the freshness of their bread and

pastries. Once a product is about to expire, it is being segregated from the new ones and is given

a discount of at most 20%. However, if it has reached its due shelf life and still unsold, it is now

permanently disposed and will no longer be displayed. On the contrary, those products that are

newly baked and cooked are stored and displayed in a well air-conditioned room to preserve

their freshness.

The primary mode of distribution of Baker’s Plaza is via truck. Every day, as early as

3:00 in the morning, the will trucks distribute all the ordered products to all the branches as far as

Daet and Sorsogon. As for the Baker’s Plaza they are more advantageous when it comes to

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delivery since they are just few blocks away from the plant. They can easily ask for more

supplies in case of higher demand or pull out their orders if there is lesser need. All the finished

goods being delivered are freshly baked and cooked. Moreover, they make sure that the trucks

are also in good condition and won’t comprise the safety of the product.

Thus, quality must be accounted seriously to ensure that the products will hit the market.

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 Baker’s Plaza Products

Products Description
Asado Pandesal Masa Bread
Bacon Cheese Loaf Specialty Bread
Specialty Bread Cheese Bread Specialty Bread
Cheese Crumble Loaf Specialty Bread
Chiffon Cake Specialty Bread
Choco Crumble Loaf Specialty Bread
Choco Mini Roll Specialty Bread
Choco Peanut Loaf Specialty Bread
Cream Loaf Specialty Bread
Dinner Roll Specialty Bread
Hopia Baboy(solo) Masa Bread
Hotdog Buns Specialty Bread
Little Cheesy Specialty Bread
Monay Bread Masa Bread
Pandegracia Masa Bread
Papaya Bread Specialty Bread
Pinagong Masa Bread
Pineapple Pie Specialty Bread
Pizza Bread Specialty Bread
Raisin Monay Masa Bread
Sliced Bread Masa Bread
Square Brownies Specialty Bread
Tender Juicy Hotdog Bread Masa Bread
Tuna Pandesal Masa Bread
Ube Bread Masa Bread
Ube Ensaymada Specialty Bread
Ube Mini Roll Masa Bread
Ube Royal Masa Bread
Wheat Bread Specialty Bread
Whole Wheat Buns Specialty Bread
Orange Mamon Specialty Bread
Fruit Bar Specialty Bread
Mamon Tostado Masa Bread
Camachile Specialty Bread
Custard Mamon Masa Bread
Banana Cake Sliced Specialty Bread

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 Chapter IV

Product and Service Design

Every company wants to achieve customer satisfaction. That is, after all, one of the main

factors that makes a business keep going. Baker’s Plaza is of no difference; their main focus is to

make their customers get the satisfaction that they want from the products that they are offering

rather than that of their competitors. This is where the product and service design is very

essential. Not only will it affect the operations but also the entity’s overall success.

The management has established one research and development department for all their

branches. They are the ones responsible for introducing new products, improving existing ones

and other innovations which are connected to product designing. The reason why they only have

one R&D team is because the production is centralized, which means that the overall quality of a

product is consistent with the product available in all of their branches. Therefore, there’s no

need to have one team for each branch.

All new product ideas and/or alterations or improvements for existing ones proposed by

the R&D team will first undergo series of experiments. It includes identifying what raw materials

are to be used and the right amount of each that should be added to the mixture, the appearance

of the product, its weight, the kind of packaging that will be used and many more. In this stage,

the management will also be able to find out if they really have the ability or the capacity to

create that product. They will review the factors that can affect in producing the product like the

availability of the resources (Where can we get these raw materials? Are they available in any

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season?), safety of the product (If we do this process, will the product still be edible?) and also

the type of machine or amount of labor force (How many workers will it require? Do we have a

machine for this? If no, how much will it cost?).

Once the initial testing has been done, sample products will be produced and distributed

to 18 out of 21 chosen branches all over the region for market testing. The managers of each

branch will then conduct a market observation or usually a survey or a customer-feedback. The

questions are about the product’s taste, its presentation or packaging and pricing. The result or

the feedback forwarded by each branch will then be used by the team to further improve the

product. This method shows the participation of the customers in designing the product which

just proves how important customer-satisfaction is for them.

After analyzing the result of their market testing, the team will now fix any adjustments

and/or add other specifications or features suggested by most of the customers who gave their

feedback. The packaging is also being rechecked and/or redesigned and they also set the price

appropriate for producing the product.

Most of their products, their regular bread for example, only have one week life span.

They can no longer extend this period because the longer it took the product to get spoiled, the

more preservatives are added. And the more preservatives that a product contains, the more it is

unhealthy. They make sure that the production process—from the purchase or delivery of the

raw materials up to the packaging—are handled carefully and meticulously to ensure that the

products that they will be producing are safe and healthy for the customers to eat.

As for the raw materials, Baker’s Plaza wanted to have their supply from the local market

particularly from the Bicol region as much as possible. It is because they wanted to support local

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suppliers first and also to lower the cost for acquiring materials without sacrificing the product

quality. But there are also times, especially during peak season, that they import their raw

materials due to shortages of their company and of their suppliers.

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 Chapter V

Design of Work Systems

Work Systems form the basis and explains the importance of work design. It is also

consist of the job design, job description or work measurement and establishment of time

standards, and job compensation.

The manager, Madam Joan Vasquez, wasn’t able to discuss to us how work is being done

in the top and middle-level management of their company. Neither do they provide a job design

and description of their employees. This scope of operations management will only be focusing

on how, basically, work is being done by the lower-level management particularly the front

liners or the service crews at the outlet.

The management of Baker’s Plaza believed that the relationships are the foundation in

the work place. They try to build a strong bond of manager-employee relationship so that they

can be able to work effectively and harmoniously during the operations.

The service crews are trained not only of one job but of the jobs done on the outlet. They

are trained how the work is done on the kitchen area, taught how and when to display the

products, doing the job of a cashier and many more. They have 20 to 32 employees per day, but

they trained their employees to do multiple tasks so that they will not have any problem if ever

they lack employees of a particular area in the work place. They do job rotation so that each

employee will be able to properly grasp each job assigned to them.

In terms of their compensation, they are paid based on the number of hours that they

spent working. Most of their employees are contractual, but according to them, when they find a

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potential employee, they usually hand them over or recommended to the agencies. Now, the

policy on the agencies is that the employee will just receive the 70% of his salary while the 30%

will be for the agency. Instead of letting the agency reduce their salary to that percent, they

decided that their company will shoulder the 30% part of their salary to be paid to the

employees’ agency.

Also, aside from their job training, employees of the middle and lower level of

management are also taught on how to save their money or income. The company has really

been giving value to their employees and, as they have said, is not a waste because all their

employees were serving them well.

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 Chapter VI

Location Planning

Location analysis is a technique for determining location decisions; whereas facility

location is determining the best geographic location for a company’s facility. This is important

for two reasons: first, they require long-term commitments in buildings and facilities, which

means that mistakes can be difficult to correct, and second, because these decisions require

sizable financial investments. Different types of businesses emphasize different factors when

making location decisions (Reid, 2009).1

In the case of Bakers’ Plaza and the Graceland Foods Incorporated, decisions on location

planning still depend greatly on the needs both of the customers and the company. One example

of which is the Bakers’ Plaza outlet in Iriga City. Before, the store was an exclusive bread and

pastry shop; however, as the years went with positive result on market share and profitability, the

company decided to incorporate Graceland in the same store. Hence they were able to offer not

only goods from the bakeshop, but also their specialties through the restaurant.

Similar to other businesses, the choices on when and where to put up new branches of the

store goes through a series of feasibility studies and other processes. The research takes into

consideration factors such as the location itself, the projected sales and market capturing, as well

22
as the other businesses surrounding the area. After careful scrutiny, the Board of Directors will

go through a deliberation on whether to push through with their new prospected branch.

However, the decision is still not as easy as it may seem. Some location planning

decisions take years before finally being realized. This is affected by the owners’ principle that it

is not good to open a new outlet by getting a loan. They believe that every store should be a

product of savings and investment. Moreover, Bakers’ Plaza and Graceland are only in the Bicol

region for now, since the company is still an exclusive-to-family business. Franchisees in Manila

and other surrounding provinces are not yet accommodated by Graceland Food Incorporated.

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CONCLUSION

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