The commercial operation of the P600-million bread plant of Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc., known as the most sophisticated and biggest bread plant in the country with a capacity to produce 6,000 loaves of bread per hour that is comparable to the best in the region, has firmed up the company’s market leadership in the country.

The new loaf bread factory or the “6K” plant would bring to a total of six Gardenia bread plants to date and would bring its combined capacity from 8,000 loaves per hour to 14,000 loaves of bread per hour or 4 million loaves of bread a month.

“With our additional capacity we would be able to supply the entire Luzon and Metro Manila,” said Gardenia Philippines president and general manager Simplicio Umali, Jr. on Wednesday’s plant inauguration.

Umali said that while they have fully served Metro Manila, their limited capacity has constrained them to supply only the main cities in the neighboring provinces.

“With the opening of this plant, we took the bread-manufacturing process in the Philippines a notch higher. Using the latest and high technology equipment to make the breads practically untouched by human hands, we are now more than capable to continue providing safe and best quality products that many Filipinos can enjoy any time of the day,” Umali said.

The plant’s exceptional quality, world-class superiority serves and sheer size have cemented Gardenia’s stature as a top bread-maker, Umali said.

Gardenia has dominated the entire bread market in Metro Manila with 60 percent share and over 70 percent market share for loaf breads.

“There is a huge business potential in the provinces and we encourage people to eat loaf bread because it is high in vitamins and minerals,” he said.

According to Umali, the P600 million plant is funded through a combination of loans from local banks and internally-generated funds.

The bulk of the investment went into the acquisition of state-of-the art equipment from Germany, Netherlands, the United States and Japan.

“This is our biggest plant equipped with the most sophisticated and efficient equipment with advanced environment friendly technologies making it comparable to the best in Asia,” Umali added.

Umali further said its planned Cebu bread is expected to be pursued middle of next year. He said the expansion in the Visayas area has been delayed because it could not a one-hectare lot that is suitable for their project.