GROOT-BIJGAARDEN, BELGIUM — The Puratos Group announced it has opened Bakery School Philippines, the sixth such school to open as part of The Bakery School Foundation, which was established in 2016 to give younger, underprivileged individuals more opportunities within the baking industry.

Puratos Philippines partnered with the Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal Foundation (CCMF) to turn a vacant building at the CCMF compound into a fully equipped bakery school with capacity for 20 to 25 students. Bakery School students undergo an intensive two-year program in which they explore 36 subjects amounting to approximately 1,600 hours of training. They first learn about equipment, ingredient interaction and commodities before technical and practical lessons such as chocolate tempering, sourdough baking, decoration and finishing. Importantly, courses on food safety, food labeling, sales management and basic finance are key aspects of the learning program, ensuring that students maintain valuable knowledge across all parts of business and giving them a good grounding for their future employment.

“As Puratos approaches its 33rd year in the Philippines, we’re extremely proud to open this bakery school and are truly excited to see more local students grow into the next generation of great bakers,” said Daniel Malcorps, chief executive officer of Puratos. “Just as Puratos is committed to the Filipino bakery market, the entire Bakery Schools team remains dedicated to its mission to provide equal opportunities to underprivileged young people and train skilled bakers to uplift our industry. As a leader in our sector, we feel it’s important to make jobs in bakery, patisserie and chocolate attractive — in any country — and maintain the unique histories, heritages and skills of those crafts.”

In addition to the Philippines, Puratos’ Bakery Schools are located in India, Brazil, Mexico, Romania and South Africa. A total of 250 students are on their way to becoming professional bakers, patissiers and chocolatiers, with another 241 already graduated, according to Puratos.