Bontoc Gets To Taste the Real Pizza By Rush Tarnate, Dovic Ticangen, Cherrie Pie Kawaren, Sheree Mae

Polled- BS Entrepreneurship !i"en College o# Mountain Province Bontoc, the capital town of Mountain Province is getting a taste of the real thing- this time, pizza, authentic that is. As BS ntrepreneurship stu!ents at "i#en $ollege of Mountain Province we were tas%e! to loo% aroun! town for &usinesses that were uni'ue an! ha! the potentials for growth. (e learne! a&out the pizza house that was growing in popularit) among the locals. This was a pizza house calle! the *a Pizzeria. Pizza is not new to the +ilipino as the ever-a!venturous +ilipino palate a!apts easil) to foo!s of foreign origin. Bontoc has pizza in some restaurants &ut the pizza serve! at the *a Pizzeria is !one with the right stuff- that can rival esta&lishe! pizza houses in the cities. Margaret $hapi)en, earne! an Agricultural ngineering !egree in ,ueva ci#a. Margaret foun! wor% at the Baguio $ountr) $lu&. Thrust in the clu&-s %itchen, she got e.posure to foo! service an! preparation. Then Margaret move! on to /ong 0ong as a !omestic helper. /er British &oss was fon! of 1talian cuisine. Margaret-s e.perience at the Baguio $ountr) $lu& was hone! further in her &oss-s %itchen in /0. Margaret ha! the %itchen to herself as she e.perimente! on pizza ma%ing. She then move! on to $hina 2mainlan!3 an! !i! some teaching until her contract e.pire!. She was luc%) to &e ta%en in &) a Gree% Restaurant &ase! in Shanghai. /er foo! service e.perience got her into the restaurant. /er s%ills at pizza ma%ing were further enhance! at the restaurant. (hen Maragaret came home for goo! in her hometown of Bontoc, she !eci!e! to set up a pizza parlor. The venture was setup at the secon! floor of the Macli-ing Buil!ing. She name! her place, 4*a Pizzeria.5 The place is 'uaint, coz). Pine woo! ta&les an! chairs a!! to the warmth an! character. There are &oo%s, magazines to rea!- to %eep one &us) as Margaret prepares )our or!ers. Margaret as a startup is !oing it all alone. 6uring the start-up phase, her customers woul! comment a&out the ingre!ients. 1t was a case of her customers &eing intro!uce! to 7unusual- her&s an! spices li%e &asil, th)me, an! mar#oram. Margaret then ha! to ma%e a!#ustments as she realize! that the pizza her town-mates have &een accustome! to taste 4sweet5, has slice! hot!ogs, pineapple an! cheese. At first she !i! give in, an! woul! as% her customers what ingre!ients the) woul! li%e on their pizza &efore she ma%es it. ventuall), she reintro!uce! the other ingre!ients 2her&s, meats3 that ma%e up a pizza &ecause she wante! her customers to learn a&out the real pizza. As%e! wh) she went into this %in! of &usiness- it was what she love! !ong, she replie!. (hen as%e! a&out the challenges of the &usiness, it was a&out sourcing ingre!ients. She has to get her cheeses an! other essentials from Manila. She then has to travel to Baguio to get her ingre!ients as her supplier sen!s her raw ingre!ients up to Baguio. This means lost revenue, as she has to close shop. Pizza ma) not &e news to the ur&an !weller &ut to the communit) of Bontoc, having mozzarella, various %in!s of meat, real sauces an! other pizza variations are a treat. The great !ifference is the price. A me!ium pizza can &e ha! at 89:.:: pesos compare! to a small size pizza which can run up to four hun!re! fift) on most pizza outlets in the cit). ;n the si!e, Margaret can whip up a mean vegeta&le sala! with vinaigrette to !ie for. Margaret-s venture comes in at the right time. 1n a communit) where almost all snac%

houses have a common menu, her pizza stan!s out from the rest. She is also creating opportunities for local organic vegeta&le farmers who coul! suppl) her her&s an! sala! vegeta&les. As a parting shot, Margaret a!vise! us that as an entrepreneur, there is no age limit, what is important is the person-s interest, har! wor% an! goo! financial management that helps )ou survive the first )ears of &usiness. 1t is also an attitu!e an! perspective that one shoul! carr) on through the )ears.