The ending of the Battle of Saipan in 1944 saw the beginning of Herman’s Bakery when its founder, Herman Delos Reyes Deleon Guerrero, who, as a teenager, apprenticed at Shimada’s Bakery in Garapan raised his hand when the U.S. military administrators at the civilian encampment known as Camp Susupe called for volunteers who knew how to bake bread to provide for the residents of the camp. Herman had the skills and stepped up. That’s where it all started.

After the Chamorro and Carolinian residents were relocated to Chalan Kanoa from Camp Susupe in November of 1944, the site of the town that housed Japanese sugar mill employees, Herman continued to provide bread for the residents. The US Military gave him the equipment and surplus military materials and supplies needed to continue on the baking path to success. Herman established the first business on Saipan and created a bakery facility in an existing military Quonset hut where the U.S. Post Office is now located and where Herman’s remained in operation until 1979 when the move was made to its current location on what was formerly known as Airport Road (now known as Chalan Tun Herman Pan).

Known in the community as “Tun Herman Pan” (bread), he and his wife, Maria Tenorio Guerrero (better known as Tan Marikita) spent the next twenty-eight years dedicated to raising their family of eleven children and providing bakery products to the people of Saipan. Herman and Maria were known for their generosity and frequently gave away their bread to those in need, and were particularly close to the Mercedarian Sisters which went back to pre-war days. During that time the Japanese had taken control of all the churches on Saipan, and the Sisters offered their Chapel for Herman and Maria’s wedding on August 15, 1942, a kindness that is reflected in the Guerrero’s continued support of their community. The Guerrero’s were instrumental in the building of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Chalan Kanoa, and upon completion, their son, Juan, was the first to be baptized after the church’s opening on December 14, 1949.

Fast forward to 1972, when, after the years sped by with Herman’s Bakery continuing to be a staple in providing bread to the local community, Herman entered into a business partnership with a Japanese tour company that was establishing a branch on Saipan during the early days of the development of the tourism industry. Herman and Maria’s older children were in the U.S, Mainland at the time, and when asked by his parents to return home to take up the operations of the Bakery, Juan took up the challenge.

After a round-the-world tour in 1968 sponsored by a former Peace Corp Volunteer, graduating from high school in New York City, and completing his education at Nebraska School of Commerce, Juan returned to Saipan and his parents’ bakery business in July 1972. The beginning of Juan’s tenure as General Manager of Herman’s Bakery was fraught with challenges, the main one being the lack of electricity. Saipan’s power plant burned down in the summer of 1972 and an emergency power barge was brought in by the U.S. Military with rationing in place, four hours on, four hours off, which went on for months. Whatever products could be produced within the four hours were then packaged and delivered to the local grocery stores during the off hours. Maintaining an inventory of needed raw materials for baking was also a challenge and delivery of goods was contingent on shipping schedules by barge from Guam to Saipan which were frequently delayed.

Despite these challenges, Herman’s Bakery continued pushing forward with the staff that had dedicated their work to Herman’s during the early years. A Japanese pastry baker, Hiroshi Sudo, still cooked the sweet red bean paste in a cauldron over an open fire, using a coconut tree branch as a paddle. Maria Blas Manibusan, Delgadino Blas Matagolai, Isabel Guerrero (Kumoi), and Maximo and Leon Concepcion were good bakers who supported the growth of the company. Some of the bakery helpers held other jobs during the day but came to the aid of Herman’s in the wee hours of the morning during scheduled power availability, notably Jose Pangelinan, Mariano Laniyo, members of the Sanchez family -- Jose and his two sons, Tardio and Glen, all came and worked those weird hours to make sure that Herman’s products would be available and delivered to the store shelves daily by a young delivery team, Joey Cruz, Henry Cabrera, and Dela Cruz from Tinian.

Juan recalled how he had to teach himself how to be an actual baker and learned by trial and error. He shares this learning journey on the way to the success of HMB: “One of my favorite items to make was raisin loaf bread. Aside from mixing dough for pullman bread, whole wheat, pan toasta, and Herman’s iconic sweet bread, I remembered one long day when I had to make and bake 300 pieces of 8” round sponge cake. That included cracking almost 7 cases of 30 doz eggs by hand. That is how I learned how to break eggs with two hands simultaneously.” He also recalls when he introduced whole pig roasting as part of the services offered and an incident when the oven tray tipped and the pan ended up on the floor of the oven: “I couldn’t fail the customer, so I put on a freezer suit, climbed into the oven to rescue the pig. From then on we had to put a weight restriction on anything for roasting…… It all boils down to blood, sweat and tears, and sacrifices. Also, trying to find customers from the neighboring island of Guam to purchase all the Pan Tosta and Sweet Bread that could be produced.”

Juan also recalls how the Bakery introduced the first “traditional” turkey meals for Thanksgiving, The first trial was one case of turkey brought in with the frozen shipment of supplies, and relying on his mother-in-law’s turkey stuffing recipe, the packages included mashed potatoes, gravy, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie. From that first trial of one case, Herman’s now sells more than one thousand Thanksgiving Turkey packages every year.

There was no budget in the early days to hire a bookkeeper or administrative assistant, so the office work was conducted after baking hours and on the weekends around the kitchen table. With Roberta always there to provide needed support, all the while having their young children in a small office at the old plant, the bakery continued to grow. With the expanding production, it became evident that new equipment was needed, and Juan started shopping around for an oven and mixer. Sourcing in those days was through bakery equipment catalogs received by mail and phone calls to the suppliers. The Bakery progressed and was showing sufficient profitability to secure a loan from California Union Bank (now First Hawaiian Bank) to purchase a diesel-powered Chubco rotating tray oven and a new mixer. This new equipment was a boon to the production capacity, and is still in use today, nearly fifty years later.

Operations at the Chalan Kanoa location was also challenging due to the frequent flooding of Lake Susupe, and wooden pallets were stacked up to store flour and raw materials to prevent destruction. Being in the flood zone of Lake Susupe continued to threaten the viability of continuing operations in Chalan Kanoa, and the decision was made to move to the family’s property in DanDan along Airport Road. Construction on the new facility began and was near completion but another roadblock delayed the move when CUC couldn’t install the electricity. Juan flew to Guam and purchased three transformers that were shipped to Saipan to complete the power installation when another major flooding event occurred. The Chalan Kanoa bakery operations were shut down over one weekend and, with the assistance of bakery staff, family, and friends, the move to DanDan was completed and operations resumed three days later. This was in January of 1979.

Herman’s began to grow with the expanded tourism market and the arrival of the garment industry, bringing hundreds of foreign workers who depended on Herman’s daily bread. With the prospect of a growing business, and in May of 1979 the decision was made by Herman and Maria to incorporate and name their children as shareholders, under the name of Herman’s Modern Bakery, Inc. with the iconic baker's hat that was first used in 1976. This became the company’s trademark in 2003 as registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

It was about this time that the CNMI needed manpower due to the expansion of the tourism and related industries on Saipan, and had a program under local immigration control that allowed contract workers to come in from foreign countries under CNMI work visas. With the expansion of bakery production and the shortage of local bakers, Juan made the initial foray into the Philippines to recruit qualified bakers, including long-time employees Jimmy Belen, Efren Manabat who was a talented cake decorator, and particularly Ernie Lineses who came to Herman’s in 1979 as a baker and eventually worked his way up to Production Manager. Ernie worked for Herman’s for forty-four years until his retirement in 2023.

Another first for Saipan and HMB came with help from Mr. Blackburn, owner of Hawaiian Flour Mills who helped with Herman’s modernization in the early 80’s. One of HFM’s specially milled flour, the “JuanPan Special” and perfect for the mixing of Herman’s Sweet Bread. Mr. Blackburn recognized the potential of Herman’s, and in his desire to help another Pacific Islander business he supported a master baker who moved to Saipan to provide training to the bread and pastry bakers at Herman’s and made minor revisions in the bread formulas which are still used today. Additional strong support came from Ron Archibald, brother-in-law to Agnes Guerrero Archibald, Herman and Maria’s oldest daughter. Ron worked at the time in the Guam operations of Hawaiian Flour Mills and was instrumental in making sure that Herman’s supply of flour was consistent. A time came, however, when it was time to look for a new flour source due to rising costs of shipping, and the specialty-mix flour now comes from Australia with one 40’ container arriving every 3-4 weeks.

With the economic growth of the tourism industry, it was also time to expand the capacity of the Bakery facility on Airport Road. In November of 1986, and with the unwavering support of Mr. Jesus Deleon Guerrero, founder of the Bank of Guam, Herman’s continued its development by expanding the bakery building to include a café, naming it “Tan Marikita’s” in honor of their mother, Maria. In addition, a cold storage facility, warehouse, office/apartment building, and catering kitchen were added to the operations, with a 150 KW generator that powers up the entire facility. This generator proves to be a lifeline for the community and first responders immediately after the frequent devastating typhoons that pass through the Marianas. The Bakery powers up to provide much-needed meals to emergency workers, people living in typhoon shelters and bread deliveries to the retail outlets.

McDonald’s was brought to Saipan when Joe Ayuyu, Sr. was awarded the franchise in 1993. Mr. Ayuyu first approached Tun Herman Pan in 1990 when McDonald’s Corporation out of Hawaii, already operating a restaurant on Guam, wanted to expand their operations to Saipan. Tun Herman said “let’s do it” and the process began of acquiring the needed equipment. McDonald’s sent their master baker to Saipan to teach Herman’s Production Manager on the special formula for the iconic McDonald’s buns and rolls, and an agreement was forged with the management of McDonald’s, the Ayuyu family and Herman’s Bakery for bread production, a strong partnership that has yielded more than 30 years of success.

Other strong partnerships were developed with Duty Free Shoppers in marketing baked goods to tourists, and the U.S. Military.

From its beginnings as a small bake shop in post-WWII Saipan with less than five employees to now, eighty years later, Herman’s Modern Bakery has grown into a thriving bakery, café, and catering service with 140 employees. As a family-owned corporation, Herman and Maria’s children and grandchildren have contributed to the growth of the company at some point through the years. Jesus served as General Manager from 1991 to 1993 and Agnes G. Archibald worked as Administrative Assistant. Herman, Jr. currently serves as President of the Board of Directors after retiring from government service. Juan was President and General Manager from 1972 to 1984, and then again from 1994 to 2014. Bobby, Rudy and Joseph Lee worked as salesmen and Lee was purchasing manager for Herman’s Food Basket while Rudy was in the Wholesale Department along with Rosalia, Pauline and the late Bennett. Joseph Lee is currently Assistant Manager. Margarita G. Sablan spent more than 10 years as Manager of Herman’s catering division, and Annie G. Hayes first served as Assistant Manager when she and her family returned to Saipan in 1991 and was General Manager from 2014 until her retirement in 2023, and now serves on the Board of Directors. Joseph Lee is currently the Assistant Manager and Leonora currently Tan Marikita’s Café Manager.

Third-generation Herman’s Bakery (Pan) family members continue to contribute to the growth of Herman’s. Juan’s sons John and Michael returned to Saipan after college and play an instrumental role in the management of the facilities and operations on Airport Road and also served on the Board of Directors. Juan’s son, Michael, assumed the position of General Manager in March of 2023. His oldest son, Vincent Seman, served on the Board of Directors before entering law school, and his daughters, Tracy and Jolene, together with Joseph Lee’s daughters, Anna and Amanda, and Margarita’s daughter, Frances, currently serve on the Board of Directors. Joseph, Jr. started at Herman’s as a salesman and is now Herman’s Production Manager, and Jesus, Jr. served on the Board of Directors.

Fourth-generation Pan Family members come to Herman’s Bakery as apprentices in baking, delivery, catering, and warehouse operations. Now with Michael at the helm as General Manager and eighty years after its founding, the third and fourth generations are dedicated to continuing the legacy of Tun Herman and Tan Maria (Pan) Guerrero.

The Guerrero family extends its Un Dangkulu na Si Yu’us Ma’ase to the community, business partners, all the loyal patrons, and those who pass through Herman’s on their way to the airport to pack up the iconic Herman’s Sweet Bread and other freshly baked goods to share with friends and family members abroad.

Submitted by: Roberta Guerrero July 3, 2024