Founded 2021 · Lipa City, Batangas
Our Story
From a home kitchen in Lipa to a Michelin-pedigree pastry counter — and back again.
From a home kitchen in Lipa to a Michelin-pedigree pastry counter — and back again.
Joaquin "Jio" Katigbak grew up in Lipa City surrounded by a family of foodies. The flavors of Batangas — the bold, the layered, the proudly local — formed the foundation of his palate long before he ever touched a rolling pin.
He trained under Michelin-starred kitchens in Spain at Miramar and in Bangkok at Gaggan, named Asia's Best Restaurant — two of the most demanding culinary environments in the world. What he brought back was not just technique. It was a benchmark: a standard for what daily food could and should be.
When he returned home, he did not go to Manila. He came back to Batangas. Under the mentorship of sourdough specialist Richie Manapat of Panaderya Toyo, he refined his bread and fermentation skills while keeping his French-trained lamination at the core of everything.
In 2021, in the middle of a pandemic, IJO BAKERY began as a one-man pre-order operation. One croissant at a time. No storefront. No team. Just Jio, his oven, and a growing line of people who had heard that something different was happening in Lipa.
The name is a wordplay. "Jio" — the founder's nickname — reversed, gives "oij." But it draws from the Spanish hijo, meaning son, and from the Filipino word ijo, meaning green. Simple, honest, and local. A son of Lipa making something that grows.
Green not as color, but as intention — fresh, living, rooted in the earth and in the place it comes from.
Great pastry is not a luxury — it is the daily benchmark. Every item that leaves our counter is held to the same uncompromising standard, whether it is your first visit or your fifty-first.
Every croissant at IJO BAKERY is a 3-day process. Lamination, resting, baking. There is no shortcut to the honeycomb crumb, the shatter of the crust, the pull of a properly laminated pastry. We do not skip steps.
From Buko Danish to Guava Cream Cheese Papillon, from Bicho Bicho to Dulce Banana Croissant — every Filipino flavor finds its French form here. Technique is European. Soul is Batangueño.
IJO BAKERY is founded as a home pre-order operation during the pandemic. Joaquin Katigbak takes orders solo, baking and delivering one box at a time in Lipa City.
First brick-and-mortar location opens at Big Ben Complex, President Jose P. Laurel Highway, Lipa City, Batangas. The queue begins.
Second branch opens at Prospero Commercial, Brgy. Balagtas, Batangas City — extending the bakery's reach across the province.
Third location opens at Paseo Outlet / Arcadia 2, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna — the first branch outside Batangas, open 9AM to 8PM daily.
Fourth branch — and the first in Metro Manila — is opening at Molito Lifestyle Center, Alabang. Follow @ijobakeryph for the announcement.
Visit us in Lipa City, Batangas City, or Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Pre-order to guarantee your pastries before they sell out.
