7-Eleven boss reveals top-selling, game changing products

MANILA - The biggest-selling product in 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines is one of the essentials - water, according to country boss Jose Victor Paterno.

Magnum ice cream bars also signaled the shift to more premium products in convenience stores. At its launch in 2012, Magnum sold for P50, double the price of regular brands.

"I think in the last 5 years, we've seen a trend towards premiumization. Before, we couldn't sell a rice meal for over P50," said Paterno, president and CEO of Philippine Seven Corp.

Rice meals at 7-Eleven can now be sold for as much as P120, Paterno said in an exclusive interview with ANC's The Boss.

"There's a move towards affluence, even if its just occasional," he said.

Business process outsourcing is a key growth driver. Paterno said Philippine Seven needs only 3,000 people in a BPO area to open a store, compared to the 20,000 people needed in a "regular" area.

"They really overperform because they come down every break. Their breaks are short. It’s a stressful job they need to treat themselves," he said.

Paterno said the company was "at the pace we want" to reach its target of operating 10,000 7-Eleven stores, buoyed by the robust economy.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Paterno, 7-Eleven Philippines founder, dies

MANILA - The founder of 7-Eleven operator Philippine Seven Corp. and former Senator Vicente T. Paterno died on Friday.

The 89-year-old Paterno was the director and chairman of Philippine Seven.

"Philippine Seven Corporation was advised by the family of the Chairman that Mr. Vicente T. Paterno passed away on November 21, 2014," the company said in a disclosure.

In 1982, Paterno founded Philippine Seven, which acquired the license to use the 7-Eleven Convenience Store system in the Philippines, along with incorporators Jose T. Pardo and Francisco Sibal.

Paterno served as chairman of the Board of Investments and Minister of Industry and also Public Highways during the Marcos administration.

During the 1986 "snap" presidential elections, Paterno was Namfrel chairman for Metro Manila.

After the elections, he was appointed chairman and president of Philippine National Oil Company in 1986, and became deputy executive secretary for energy of the Office of the President from 1986 to 1987.

Paterno was elected to the Senate in 1987 and served until 1992.

He was born in Quiapo, Manila on November 18, 1925. He graduated Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of the Philippines in 1948 and obtained Master of Business Administration at Harvard University in 1953.

Last year, he received the Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr. (RVR) Award for Nation Building.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com