Inside: Rgies Delicacies

When I first blogged about RGies Delicacies years ago, I had a (day) dreamt of visiting its factory and having an up close and personal look on how those yummy butterscotch are made.

An assignment for a local magazine last March brought me to Gran Plains Subdivision in Jaro to interview Mrs. Grace Javelosa, the “G” in RGies. I first met her together with her husband Ramon – the “R”, months ago when I was scouting for sponsors for the Visayas Blogging Summit. From then on, I knew that it won’t be our last meeting.

“Butterscotchelicious” and “yemarrific” described that afternoon as my ogled in all directions the moment I stepped inside the premises. A display of their goodies greet visitors as packs of butterscotch with variants, yema, butterscotti and walnut flake cookies scuffle for one’s attention.

As I was led deeper into the lair of sweets, I found myself in the heart of it all – the kitchen. There, I was lucky to have seen what usually off limits to most - how both butterscotch and yema were created. Mrs. Javelosa even gave me a bird’s eye-view of the raw ingredients and the step by step processes involved. I had a glimpse of how butterscotch looks before it enters the oven or how yema is processed before it becomes a ball of sweet.

Then I was off to the packaging station, a floor above the production area. It was as if I had sweet dreams as a galore of butterscotch and yema welcomed me. There I saw how these were transformed from trays and mounds of sweet concoctions into what we buy in stores and enjoy at home.

Straight from the kitchen, trays of butterscotch are cooled off in racks as they wait their turn of being processed. Then a team does the work - one slices each tray into the right size, another places it into individual wrappers. One then is in charge of sealing while another places them in packs of 10’s or 25’s.

The yema, on the other hand, was a more subtle work compared to the hustle and bustle of butterscotch. But it’s also team work as one forms the cooled concoction into balls and rolls it over sugar, another delicate wraps them in colored cellophane and packs them in 10’s.

I then had a casual talk with the RGies couple inside their “home sweet home”. Both were insurance agents before they decided to venture into the pasalubong business. It still is the same venture but this time it ensures the sweetness of life and that’s guaranteed!

More photos on Facebook | Read the magazine article.

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