'We're not scared to change': Jeremiah Luya on modernising Sydney's Starlight Bakery

SBS Filipino profiles Jeremiah Adam Luya, whose family bought Doonside's two-decade-old Starlight Bakery in 2021 for AUD $250,000 and gave it a modern makeover with new interiors and seasonal chilled drinks, with plans for a second location and more wholesale.

Sydney's Starlight Bakery has been baking traditional Filipino breads for over 20 years. Now Jeremiah Adam Luya has given it a youthful makeover, SBS Filipino reported in a 27 October episode titled "We're not scared to change".

Jeremiah Adam Luya took over the family-run business after his family acquired the bakery in 2021. According to SBS Filipino, he updated the interiors and changed the look inside and outside the shop. He also added specialty seasonal chilled beverages popular with younger customers to the traditional Filipino bakery menu.

Buying a two-decade-old bakery

SBS Filipino reported that the capital needed to buy Starlight Bakery reached AUD $250,000. That price included the recipes, the kitchen equipment and the shop itself.

The bakery's own website says Starlight Bakery was established in 2000 "to bring the most authentic Filipino breads in Sydney," and that it continues "baking the same authentic family recipe and taste of home here abroad." Its tagline reads "Baked by Filipinos for the people."

Its listed breads include pandesal, Spanish bread, classic ensaymada, pan de coco, ube cheese pandesal and special ube macapuno and cheese ensaymada. Egg pie, buko pie, siopao and empanadas are also on the menu.

Serving the community

For Luya, the business is about more than profit. "The thing that has kept us alive for this long is how we serve the community," he told SBS Filipino. "If you go into business with a bigger purpose than making money, you'll be a lot more successful."

He said that for him, it is about sharing their culture past their generations. He described seeing a one-year-old child eating ensaymada in Australia as "something really special."

What's next

To grow the business, the Luya family wants to open a second location while stepping up wholesale sales of their bread to other shops, SBS Filipino reported. The bakery is at 17 Hill End Road, Doonside, and is listed as closed on Mondays.

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