Julie’s Bakeshop

It is the dream of every small business to become a household name. For Julie Gandionco, she got more than what she ever wished for and expected. The enterprising homemaker just wanted her business to be successful enough to help her husband with their expenses. Instead, Julie’s Bakeshop is now a global brand with more than 500 stores in the Philippines and expanding far and wide towards Indonesia and Canada.

Gandionco opened her first store in Mandaue, Cebu on January 6, 1981. Before diving into the bakery business, she was a canteen concessionaire that was outsourcing her bread from
different bakeshops to supply her demands for the canteen. She opened the bakeshop in
Mandaue when one of the bakers of her suppliers left his employer and suggested that
Gandionco open her own shop with him at the helm. In an interview for Vulcan Post, Gandionco recalls, “I asked God to give me this, to make it work, to make it succeed. I asked God for only one, but He gave me more than I ever dreamed of.”

What Julie’s Bakeshop offered was freshly baked bread available by the hour. It became an
instant hit with the Filipino masses. Soon, many more branches all over the province opened,
and the first branch outside of Cebu opened in Iloilo City in 1988. Their brand became known for their transparency and cleanliness. The outlets showcased the bakery side in full view of
customers, forcing staff to maintain pristine conditions.

As the company grew, a more organized management set-up was required and more family
members got involved with the business to help out. In 1998, the company under Julie’s
Franchise Corporation registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide
franchise management support. From then on, the company grew tenfold and started receiving recognitions and awards.

They continued to dominate their market with further expansion to Luzon and Mindanao,
opening warehouses to supply franchisees all over the country. In 2013, Julie’s officially went
global with their first international branch in Tangerang, Indonesia, just outside of Jakarta. In
2015, they opened a franchise store in Alberta, Canada, and another in Calgary in 2017.
Julie’s Bakeshop just celebrated its 40th year with a groundbreaking commercial that went viral for its unconventional humor. It truly proves that even after all these years, Julie’s bakeshop is a dominant force to be reckoned with, and is still very fresh at 40.