The story of Albay Pilinut Candy begins with the family patriarch, Don Antonio M. Regidor II from Malaga, Spain. An adventurous traveler, Don Antonio sailed back and forth from Spain to the Philippines aboard the family ship before setting down in Bicol. He brought with him his mother’s heirloom candy recipes.

Seeing the abundance of pili nut trees in Bicol, he used the native nuts to create mazapan, yemas, sugar coated, caramelitos, pastillas and pili coated with sesame seeds with excellent results. He then decided to establish the first pili nut candy factory in Bicol called Central Pilinut Candy along with a friend, a former Moroccan legionnaire.

Don Antonio married the late Purificacion Macapugay, and they had five children namely Angelita, Estelita, Erlinda, Antonio and Leticia. In 1975, he turned over the active supervision of ca



ndy factory to his daughter Erlinda Regidor-Diaz, who renamed it as Albay Central Pilinut Candy.

In 1985, his granddaughters Rosemarie, Angelica, Elizabeth and Agnes took over, upon the death of their mother, Erlinda. Then in 1996 (up to the present), the Candy Factory became the New Albay Central Pilinut Candy, under the management of Rosemarie Diaz-Battung. Don Antonio Regidor was the recipient of the 1971 Panday Pira Award of Excellence. He died on October 16, 1980 at the age of 89.