When Dolores Salcedo and her husband decided to pursue lechon manok seriously, they did not do it with large capital, investors, or a formal production facility. What they had instead was a small loan, their home, and a willingness to do everything themselves.
As their daughter Sarabeth Soriano recalls, the business started with a modest amount of borrowed money. “They borrowed P10,000 from their parents,” she says. That money wasn’t used for expansion or branding. It was simply enough to get things moving—ingredients, basic supplies, and the ability to start producing consistently.
From the beginning, operations were deeply personal and home-based. “Yun so the suppliers and everything were really handled in our own house, in our own home,” Soriano explains. There was no separation between work and family life. Food preparation happened where they lived, not in a commercial kitchen. “Dun sila magra-wrap ng liempo tapos from there kukunin ng delivery truck.”
The backyard of their West Avenue home became the heart of the operation. “This was all happening right in our own backyard in West Avenue,” Soriano says. What might have seemed chaotic to outsiders became routine for the family. “Kaya tuwing umaga the place was so busy.” Mornings were filled with preparation, wrapping, and coordination—tasks that required precision and speed despite limited space.
At the time, the family itself was still young. “At that time, they had been married for about four years,” Soriano recalls. She herself was barely old enough to remember the details. “And I was just three years old.” Despite that, the household adjusted around the business. Home life and work life were not separate—they were intertwined.
What stands out about this stage of Baliwag Lechon Manok’s growth is how much responsibility the founders took on themselves. Suppliers, preparation, and logistics were all handled directly by the family. There were no external partners managing operations, no outsourced kitchens, and no automation. Every step happened under their watch.
Even as lechon manok demand increased, the founders did not immediately professionalize the setup. Instead, they relied on discipline and routine to manage growth. Working from home allowed them to control costs and remain flexible, especially in the early stages when margins mattered. It also forced them to be hands-on in ways that shaped how the business would later operate at scale.
For a period of time, the lechon manok business ran alongside their original Betamax rental shop. “The Betamax business went on for mga two years,” Soriano says. They didn’t shut it down right away. “They didn’t close it when lechon manok was there.” Both ventures coexisted, creating additional strain on time and resources. “So it was both simultaneously—the Betamax was there and then the lechon manok.”
That overlap meant juggling two very different businesses while still operating out of their home. It required constant prioritization and long working hours. Yet it also gave them a buffer—an additional source of income while the food business found its footing.
Over time, it became clear where momentum was building. “But when the lechon manok grew bigger, dun na sila nag-focus,” Soriano says. The shift wasn’t sudden or dramatic. It was gradual, driven by demand rather than ambition. As the lechon manok operation expanded, the Betamax business faded along with the trend itself. “Syempre, nawala na sa uso yung Betamax,” she adds. “So they didn’t continue it.”
Looking back, what allowed Baliwag Lechon Manok to survive its earliest years was not scale, branding, or capital. It was proximity. By producing food at home, the founders stayed close to every detail—costs, quality, and daily execution. Mistakes were visible immediately, and adjustments were made in real time.
The home-based setup also reinforced a culture of responsibility. Every piece of chicken wrapped, every delivery prepared, and every supplier coordinated had a direct impact on the family’s livelihood. That closeness to the business created habits that would later support expansion: discipline, consistency, and respect for the work involved.
Baliwag Lechon Manok did not begin in a factory or a commissary—it began in a backyard, fueled by borrowed money and family effort. By building the business at home, the founders kept costs low and accountability high. Their story shows that early-stage entrepreneurship is often less about having the right infrastructure and more about making the most of what is already available. Before systems, scale, and structure, Baliwag Lechon Manok was built on proximity—between family, work, and the product itself.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
