Tags: Food Establishments
By Edzelle Peña
LUCENA CITY QUEZON — An ounce of determination mixed with a kilo of passion then sprinkled with a dash of creativity, all these are baked together to cook up one prime “pasalubong” center in Lucena City — Leah’s Pasalubong Center.
For over three decades now, Leah’s has been delighting Filipinos with mouth-watering delicacies and constantly improving their products to stay on top of the league.
Back in the ‘70s, Lope Papa, the pioneer of the business, had the idea of making candies out of “kundol” or winter melon (fruit of the winter melon vine). Together with his sister Editha, they took some of the fruits from a neighbor’s tree and chopped them into small pieces. Glazed with sugar, they let them dry under the sun. Surprisingly, what they produced was a sweet, crisp and tasty treat that’s fun and healthy to eat.
Confident with their produce, they sampled the candies to the then-leading “pasalubong” store in Lutucan, Quezon — Mazapan Sweets. It didn’t come as a surprise that the owner liked the product and asked them for supplies. Though lacking manpower and equipment, Lope and Editha, like loyal confidants, consistently supplied the store with “kundol” candies.
Inch by inch, they learned the A-B-Cs of the business. They were able to hire a few people to help them in the production as well as buy machineries that were essential to the business.
“I was in charge of marketing and selling while she [Editha] was manning the production,” said Lope.
Later on, they started making other products such as banana chips, tamarind candies, pastillas (milk-based pastry) and broas (lady fingers). They became the major supplier of Mazapan Sweets.
The trade went on smoothly. The demand for their products was high and they were generating positive income. Until one day, Manuel Africa, owner of Mazapan Sweets, confided to Lope that they could no longer sustain the deal. Quite too often, they were falling short in payments. So then Africa suggested that Lope and Editha build their own “pasalubong” center.
Lope was apprehensive at first — mindful that such a business requires huge capital. Nevertheless, after much thought, Lope and Editha decided to take a chance and put up their own store which they named, Lucban Sweets. That was in 1976. It was the very first “pasalubong” center to be established in Lucena City.
Their store quickly became popular. Their own version of “broas” (ladyfingers) was an instant hit. They were the first store to sell broas in boxes which were originally sold in cans. It was, according to Lope, an effective marketing strategy to reduce costs. They also started selling new products like macaroons, mazapan, tarts and many other pastries and sweets.
However, in an unfortunate event sometime in the ‘80s, their store caught fire. Lope and his family were disheartened by the event. What they worked so hard for, for so many years, was all burnt down to ashes.
But like a child who falls but stands back up again, Lope started rebuilding their business. However this time, no longer with his sister Editha who decided to put up her own “pasalubong” center.
Lope named the new store after her daughter Leah, hence the name Leah’s Pasalubong Center, who also took over the business.
As a hotel and restaurant management graduate and having previous experience in managing food businesses, Leah Papa remodeled the business into a store that caters to all the needs of their market. Aside from selling pastries and cookies, Leah started selling “kakanin” or rice-based products and converted the second floor of the store’s building into a mini bar.
Leah’s sells about 60 traditional desserts, breads and sweets. Among these are “pitsi-pitsi” (cassava cubes or patties coated in coconut or cheese), “longganisa” Lucban (native sausage) and “pancit Lucban” which both originated in Lucban, Quezon, “pinag-ong” (sweet bread that resembles a turtle shell), “broas” (ladyfingers), “biscocho” (butter toast), “uraro” (bite-size tapioca cookie), “kalibkib” (crisp, square-sized egg biscuits), “apaz” (crisp, thin biscuits topped with sugar) and “tikoy” (heavy, rice-based specialty made from “malagkit” or glutinous rice).
Other native delicacies available are “sinukmani” (made from glutinous rice, grated coconut, and sugar), “kutsinta” (brown rice cake), puto (steamed rice cake), “sapin-sapin” (layered glutinous rice with sugar and coconut flakes sprinkled on top) and their best-selling “budin” (cassava cake).
Aside from Quezon’s products, Leah’s also sells goods from other provinces like “piayaya,” “lambanog,” “pili” nuts, “lengua,” peanut brittle and many kinds of tarts.
Leah credits the business’ success to their drive to constantly improve their products and their attitude of not settling for less.
“We make the products ourselves and we try to improve the taste and even their look. And, customers can be assured that our products are clean.”
Catering to the needs of the market as well as adapting to the needs of the time are also the two main techniques they employ to attract customers and increase their yield.
“Before New Year, we made our cassava cakes into small, rounded pieces in contrast to their regular square-shaped look. It was an instant hit.”
According to Filipino tradition, anything rounded which resembles the shape of a coin is considered lucky during the celebration of New Year.
In the future, Leah hopes to make the business a one-stop-shop for all of the country’s native delicacies. Through this, Filipinos especially Quezonians could easily enjoy all the delectable goods of the different provinces in the country.
What started with guts and pure hard work grew into one of Quezon’s leading pasalubong centers — truly, an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Leah’s Pasalubong Center can be found at Gomez St., corner Quezon Avenue, Lucena City and may be contacted through landline at (042) 710 – 6699 or (042) 710 – 4226 and through mobile phone at 0910-832-1604. They also offer “merienda” catering services.
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will u deliver in cavite area of your product?
TRINIDAD’S LANGGONISA
FOR SALE!
We Deliver!
- langgonisang Lucban (regular size) – 68.00 Php/doz
- langgonisang Lucban (jumbo size) – 136.00 Php/doz
- langgonisang ilocos/vigan – 220.00 Php/kl
- negotiable for business retailers
- guaranteed fresh meat
- original langgonisa
- no extender & sapal, pure meat
pls call / text: 0920 3285685
0909 6380696
09329073313
or u can visit us at zurbano st., lucban, quezon province
or at
villa consuelo, subd. red-v lucena city, quezon province 4301