“OUR hopia before, we were the first ones to have a jingle – hopiang ‘di mabile, may amag sa tabi,” said Royce Gerik Chua, the eldest among the three siblings, the fourth generation owners now running Eng Bee Tin and the company’s COO (chief operating officer).

“Our hopia before, walang gustong bumile. ‘Pag binato mo sa pader, ‘pag bagsak, hopia pa rin na matigas. Our hopia before were in jars and they were sold in consignment. ‘Pag dating mo sa tindahan, ‘yung hopia piyaya na.”

Until TV host Cory Quirino featured the Eng Bee Tin products – hopia and tikoy – in the late eighties and people started flocking to Ongpin, where Eng Bee Tin was located. The products eventually became a byword in the industry.

More than a century ago, the popular Eng Bee Tin store was originally known as Eng Bee Tin Hopia Factory. Through the years, when it decided to expand, it became known as Eng Bee Tin Chinese Delicacy that included other Oriental products.

“We expanded through different products, not just hopia,” said Gerik. “Hopia has been passed on to us for generations. Filipinos were not the ones who discovered hopia.

“But hopia has been part of our everyday lives. No matter what happens, all of us have a core memory that has hopia in it.”

Translated into “forever, excellent, treasure,” Eng Bee Tin was rebranded into hopia with a thin layer and it was intentional on the company’s part to re-introduce the product and make it marketable.

“We want to make Eng Bee Tin delicious, affordable and worth it for the customers,” Gerik said.

In an effort to rebrand Eng Bee Tin and make the product marketable, the senior Gerry Chua frequented the Ongpin Supermarket every afternoon without buying anything, to the point where he was suspected as a shoplifter then.

“We came to a point where the business was really losing money,” Gerik recalled. “My father was the one making the hopia, buying the ingredients, making the products and selling them.

“A day came when he asked the guy selling ice cream what’s the most popular flavor and he was told it was ube. It was as if someone whispered to him, ‘Try making hopiang ube.’ He bought six jars of ube, made hopia and the rest was history.”

That is the reason Eng Bee Tin decided to retrace and showcase the history of hopia by holding the first National Hopia Day, from July 19 to 21 at the Mall of Asia Music Hall. The family lined up exciting activities that will happen in the three-day event.

“We want to share the history of hopia in the Philippines,” Gerik added. “We want to show what else we can do differently with hopia.”

On the first National Hopia Day, the Chuas lined up exciting activities, as well as fun and games.

“Since hopia is shared with family, we made a family fun day at SM Mall of Asia Music Hall,” Gerik shared. “We will have a human claw machine, where the one on top of it can catch as many hopias as he can.

“We will also have a hopia sack race. We made the event three days so they will experience and participate in the National Hopia Day.”

Gerik’s only sister and the youngest in the brood, Roche Geraldyn, shared that hopia was brought into the Philippines by Chinese immigrants. Brother Royce Gerald is the second.

“We want to emphasize that hopia is a very Chinese product,” Geraldyn said. “But Eng Bee Tin being the first to come out with hopiang ube, a very Filipino root crop. It’s kind of a symbol of both cultures working together to create something sensational.

“Eng Bee Tin is a very proud local company. Every product is Filipino-made, but we are acknowledged worldwide. We export our products to 18 countries.

“Our target is to serve our fellow Filipinos across the world, so that when they eat hopia wherever they are, they are reminded of home.

“We have flavors not just ube, we have ube-langka, ube-quezo, ube-pastillas, macapuno, durian. We really bring flavors of the Philippines.”

Eng Bee Tin also came out with its custard series that’s like ice cream, ube and buko pie. “When you go to other countries and you buy our hopia, it’s like reminiscing that you eat buko pie like hopia,” Gerik said.

“Our aim is when Filipinos eat hopia anywhere they are in the world, they are reminded of home.”

To date, Eng Bee Tin has 50 branches all over Luzon, all family owned with no franchises. “Mostly are kiosks,” Chua offered. “We have yet to branch out in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“Our challenge is we use fresh ingredients for our products with short shelf life. To maintain the quality, we consider the distance that we maintain to supply all our branches.

“The farthest in Luzon is Batangas, while in the north, it’s Pampanga (San Fernando). Soon, hopefully, we plan to bring Eng Bee Tin to Baguio.”

Eng Bee Tin has been around for 112 years. Back in the eighties, there were only two flavors of hopia – baboy and monggo – available.

“Today, there are 25 flavors of hopia,” beamed Gerik. “We have hopia pandan, durian, langka, quezo and kundol, plus sugar-free hopia. Same taste, guilt-free. Very Filipino flavors and proudly Pinoy.

The Eng Bee Tin brand has undoubtedly been passed on from one generation to another, as emphasized by Geraldyn.

“The National Hopia Day has been made into a three-day event because we want to show that Eng Bee Tin has been turned into a family brand,” Geraldyn said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Leah C. Salterio