The Birth of the Bun (2013)
Nine years ago, NVC Envoy of Hope Mariel Tolentino wanted to come up with creative ways of using Mingo. She approached Carla Lim and asked her to create a special bun that would make use of Mingo. Carla was happy to oblige. As the owner of the popular Sunny Bakeshop, she had a lot of experience developing delicious recipes. And so she mixed and measured, kneaded and rolled, and out of the oven came the Mingo Bun! It had taken her several months to perfect the recipe but the results were well worth the time and effort.
The Mingo Bun is a soft pan de sal made even better because it’s fortified with Mingo. With malunggay, mongo and rice baked into it, every bite of the Mingo Bun is packed with nutrition. Busy with other commitments, Carla never got around to mass producing the Mingo Bun. And so the Mingo Bun was put on the back burner.
Mingo Buns in Manila
In late 2020, Trina Borromeo started The Bread Project PH. This initiative has been feeding children in Caloocan since December 2020. Just this May, the organizers were able to add communities in Payatas and Bagong Silangan to their feeding programs. Another May addition to The Bread Project PH was the Mingo Bun!
Mingo Buns have also been spied on community pantry tables around Metro Manila. Can you guess where Mingo Buns pop up next?
Now Baking in Bacolod
While the Mingo Bun was on the rise in Metro Manila, we hoped that it would also take off in Bacolod. After all, Bacolod was where the Mingo story began. Lucky for us, Fretzie came to the rescue!
Fretzie Añalucas is a long-time NVC donor and volunteer. This Certified Public Accountant should be in law school now but she has decided to shift gears. She recently turned her passion for baking into a small business and named it The Baker for Good.
The bakeshop was aptly named. This baker has decided to focus on using her bakeshop to do good for others. Fretzie will be supplying non-profit organizations with low cost bread to share with those in need. She also shares profits from her regular priced items with her NGOs of choice. NVC is lucky to be one of them!
Fretzie has decided to bid Accountancy and Law goodbye. She has found her ikigai and wants to bring about positive change as a baker for the rest of her life.
NVC can help facilitate the ordering and distribution of Mingo Buns for charity in Manila and Bacolod. Please email us at [email protected] for more details.