Christopher Ah proudly at the helm of Bakery Fair 2025. 

MANILA -- This year’s Bakery Fair, a biennial event of the Filipino Chinese Bakery Association, Inc. (FCBAI), has a new president.

Christopher Ah started very young in the bakery business, which his family owns for more than a century now. He was only seven years old when his father, Henry Ah, required him to arrange bread on the shelves and cabinets.

In the summer, while other kids go to the beach to swim during vacation, Ah and his siblings were detailed in their Liberty Bakery located in Tondo, Manila. It started in 1912. Today, it is 113 years old.

The bakery started with a Spanish owner. “My lolo, Ah Nam, worked there when he arrived in Manila,” Ah said. “They called him ‘Kabisi.’ When the bakery renovated, we put up a small coffee shop called Café Kabisi.”

In 1954, Ah Nam got to own Liberty Bakery. His youngest of 11 sons, Henry Ah, Christopher’s dad, subsequently managed and ran the business, too. Eventually, Henry’s sons, Christopher and Bien Enrico, as well as his daughter Jennifer, are now the third-generation owners.

“Call it child labor,” teased Ah, who is called Tay-Tay, which means little brother in Chinese. “We have a baker called Mang Tomas. My dad emphasized to him, ‘Si Tay-Tay, hindi ko anak ‘yan. Assistant mo ‘yan. Utusan mo, paglinisin mo, pag-mop-in mo.’

“Our parents emphasized to us, ‘Hindi ka pwedeng papasok dito at bo-bossing-bossing ka’.”

Ah studied at the American School of Baking in Kansas, USA. Curiously, baking was not his original passion.

“Honestly, gusto ko talyer,” he admitted. “I wanted a shop for cars. Somebody became my business partner, but we lost money. Nalugi. Parang hindi bagay sa akin ang talyer.

“So, my dad sent me and my brother, Bien Enrico, to the US. That was where we learned the science of baking.

“We started from the pandesal baked from the old pugon (wood-fired brick oven),” shared Ah. “Today, we have several types of pandesal.

“Originally, pandesal doesn’t use sugar. We called it salted pandesal which has a market before, especially our old-timers. They wanted it tostado, the toasted pandesal.”

Today, Liberty is no longer just a small, laid-back bakery in Tondo. “As generation goes by, Liberty is now serving even the fastfood business,” Ah said. “We are now serving vegan and plant-based breads.

“Also, we can brag about our certifications. Our plant is automated and ready for international standards. We are now serving even halal. So this bakery is the first generation to the third generation.

“Bakery business is really good. Kahit papaano, buhay tayo,” Ah said.

Bakery Fair 2025

Bakery Fair 2025 on March 6 to 8 at the World Trade Center, will have industry leaders, professionals and bakery experts -- "a one-stop shop for all bakery concerns of enthusiasts, owners, professionals," according to Ah.

A Highlight of the Bakery Fair is the much-awaited FCBAI Bakers Cup Wedding Cake Competition 2025 that will showcase unique and artistic wedding cake creations.

The competition is open to all professional and amateur bakers, home bakers, students and even hobbyists.

There will also be a red-carpet parade of big wedding cakes in “Regal Tiers,” where the champion will take home P150,000, with P50,000 in second place and P30,000 in third place.

Participants will come from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. The competition is very exciting.

“Amateurs and professionals travel just to compete,” said Ah. “There are home bakers and there are professionals from hotels. They will compete for the grand prize.”

There will also be a croissant competition, according to Ah. Prizes include a trip to a Korean baking school.

Judges will include professionals and master bakers from different countries – Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Italy.

Celebrities who are into baking such as Rhian Ramos, Maricar Reyes, Marian Rivera, Janice de Belen and Ai-Ai de las Alas were also  invited to Bakery Fair 2025. 

Entrance to the three-day Bakery Fair 2025, tagged “Rise and Shine: Baking at Dawn,” is free of charge. The public simply needs to register using the link in the Facebook page to get a free pass good for three days.