After 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Milagros Daez Sevilla, a lover of sweets, decided to open a bakeshop. Knowing nothing about pastries (other than that she enjoyed eating them), she solicited advice from her drugstore’s neighboring businesses and proceeded to hire a couple who used to work at a successful Manila bakery.

On September 24, 1972, Merced Bakehouse, named in honor of her mother, Mercedes Daez, was born.

Shaped by Three Generations

  • Lola Mila / Dr. Sevilla

    Merced's founder and the family matriatch was the excitable one — gung-ho about new opportunities, always looking forward. Even at 101 years of age, she lit up hearing about the strides the bakehouse was making with digital sales.

  • Lennie

    Where Lola Mila had enthusiasm, her daughter Lennie had steadiness. She preached prudence, patience, and a healthy dose of skepticism — the qualities that kept the business grounded. Lennie was the engine that kept the bakehouse running.

  • Max & Ayen

    Both Dr. Sevilla and Lennie have passed away in recent years. The bakehouse now rests in the hands of the third generation — and with it, the responsibility of keeping what they built alive. If the business succeed, everyone is taken cared of.

Our Team

A bakehouse doesn't run on recipes alone.

Many of the people who wake up early to fire the ovens, pipe the cakes, and pack the orders have been doing it for over twenty years. They are the ones who carry the muscle memory of this place, knowing how the boiled icing should look, how the empanada dough should feel, and what the kitchen sounds like on a good day.

We learn from them as much as they learn from us. And when we talk about keeping what our grandparents built alive, we mean keeping their knowledge, their loyalty, and their craft alive too.

#LakingMerced

Merced has been part of family celebrations for over fifty years. If you haven't tried us yet, we'd love to be part of yours.

Discover our baked goods