Chicken out? Serve Chickenjoy: How Jollibee took on McDonald's

MANILA -- Instead of chickening out, Jollibee offered fried chicken and focused on a delicious menu, its CEO said, recalling how the firm took on McDonald's to become the Philippines' largest fast food operator.

When McDonald's entered the Philippines at the start of the 1980s, Jollibee only had 12 stores. The young chain's founder, Tony Tan Caktiong, hired a foreign consultant to map out a strategy, said the current CEO, Ernesto Tan Mantiong.

At that time, Jollibee stores were behind in look, equipment, systems and process, except in one area: taste, Tan Mantiong told a recent dinner roundtable with businessmen in Manila.

"Instead of chickening out, we served Chicken Joy," Tan Mantiong said, referring to Jollibee fried chicken, which it eventually exported to its foreign outlets.

"We were warned that when McDonald's entered the country, it tended to wipe out local competitors. We were told to just give it up and do other businesses and not to confront the global giant," he said. "So Tony sought the help of a foreign consultant, who was an expert in corporate strategy."

ICE CREAM BEGINNINGS

Before setting up Jollibee, Tan Caktiong and his then girlfriend, Grace, set up 2 ice cream parlors, one in Cubao and another in Quiapo from a seed capital of P350,000.

"Since they plan on getting married, they applied for a franchise for their livelihood," Tan Mantiong said.

After a few months of operations, Tan Caktiong and his brothers found out that consumers craved hot meals and burgers, which eventually replaced the ice cream-heavy menu, Tan Mantiong said.

"Since we were now selling primarily hot meals and burgers, we thought it would be good to change the name of our stores," he said.

WHY JOLLIBEE?

Naming the business was a long process, Tan Mantiong said. The word "Jolli" was inspired by a helicopter used during the Vietnam war called "Jolly Green Giant," which the Tan family spotted during an exhibit in Clark, while "bee" was suggested by Tan Caktiong’s wife Grace.

Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were inspirations for the group’s mascot, Tan Mantiong earlier shared in an interview with CNBC.

The country’s largest food operator has since introduced different versions of its logo including "flying bee" and a "standing bee."

ASIA’S PRIDE

Jollibee reached its first 1000th store milestone in 2017. Today it has over 1,400 stores in 16 countries, Tan Mantiong said.

The Jollibee group has 6 brands in the Philippines and over 3,420 stores, he said. Globally, the company has a total of 15 brands and over 5,800 stores in 35 countries, he said. 

Jollibee acquired US-based burger chain Smashburger as well as the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand. It has invested in Mexican-American Tortas Fronteras, and has franchise interests in other global brands such as Panda Express, Dunkin Donuts and Pho24. 

"It is heartening to know that to this day, the Philippines is the only country in the whole world where a local company beat the global leader in its own game," Tan Mantiong said.

"I’ve learned that it is important to always dream big with passion and commitment. Even when we started out, we dream big and even though many thought it was crazy. And it was that crazy dream that brought us to where we are now," he said.

Even after 40 years, founder Tan Caktiong still has his eyes on potential acquisitions or brands with "great tasting food" and a scalable model, his brother and successor said.

Looking back, with a shoebox of letters from his wife Susan to remind him of past challenges, Tan Mantiong said the company he helped build "had come a long way."

"There will be many more challenges along the way, but I truly believe that the best is yet to come," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Jollibee may open first store in China 'in near future', CEO says

MANILA - Jollibee Foods Corp may expand its home-grown fast food chain brand in China within the next 5 years, its CEO said.

JFC operates a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in China. 

It also has 8 stores in Hong Kong where 40 to 50 percent of customers are "local Chinese," JFC president and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong told Christine Tan in an exclusive interview for CNBC's Managing Asia. 

"In China, hopefully in the near future we will be able to enter the market," Tanmantiong told CNBC. 

When asked when will the first Jollibee open in the mainland, Tanmantiong said: "We're looking at within 5 years, where we should be able to do that."

The brand's expansion strategy is focused on the areas where there are a lot of Filipinos, expanding to local markets after that, he said. 

"We build the base and slowly cross over to the mainstream market, which is the local market. We have done that successfully in Hong Kong and in Singapore," Tanmantiong said. 

There are 6 stores in Singapore where 50 percent of customers are also locals, he said. 

Last November, JFC said it planned to expand the number of its stores in the US to 150 in 5 years and add 100 branches in Canada. Both countries have many migrants from the Philippines.

Jollibee is also planning to open its first store in Rome and in Spain and is also exploring other markets including Australia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, Tanmantiong said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Filipinos lead queue to UK's first Jollibee branch

LONDON - Filipinos trooped to Jollibee when it opened its first United Kingdom branch in London's Earl's Court on Saturday morning.

The London branch is Jollibee Food Corporation's second in Europe after it opened in Milan, Italy earlier this year. It adds to over 1,300 Jollibee stores worldwide.

Filipino patrons as well as curious foreigners lined up outside the store hours before the opening.

"This brings the taste of home even closer to them and I would like to congratulate Jollibee for bringing their first store in the UK," Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Antonio Lagdameo said.

Jollibee branches outside the Philippines have been hugely popular among Filipino migrants who come to the store to get a taste and feel of home. 

Michael Sison and his friend Reggie Derecho were the first in line when the store opened at 8 a.m.

Sison, a balloon artist, and Derecho, a caregiver, lined up for 17 hours just to eat Chickenjoy, burger steak and spaghetti.

As early birds, the two took home with them Jollibee dolls and other collectible items.

Sison said Jollibee executives warmly welcomed them too.

"Ang pagtanggap po nila parang feel at home po kami sa loob ng Jollibee, parang nasa Pilipinas po kami," said Sison.

(How they received us, we felt at home inside Jollibee, it was like we were in the Philippines.)


Ernesto Tanmantiong, president and CEO of Jollibee Foods Corporation, also took time out to welcome the youngest person in line, 7-week-old Gabrielle Francis.

Like Sison and Derecho, the baby was also given a Jollibee doll and other toys.

Just like in the Philippines, Jollibee's London branch will also serve its trademark Chickenjoy with rice, Jolly Spaghetti, and Yumburger among others.

“We are very excited because we will be able to provide the taste of home to our kababayans here as well as offering our products to the British people,” Tanmantiong said during the official launch Friday.

Reports say that an all-Filipino crew would man Jollibee's first London store.


The hit Filipino food chain said it would be aggressive with its UK expansion as it targets to open 25 more branches there in the next five years.

“We believe the fried chicken market in the UK is very big and we would like to be a major player in this market,” Tanmantiong said.

“There is a strong match between the strength of Jollibee, the Chickenjoy and the potential of the market here in Europe,” added Dennis Flores, Jollibee's head for International Business in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

There are over 200,000 Filipinos in the United Kingdom and over 800,000 Filipinos spread across Europe, according to a 2013 report of the Commission on Filipino Overseas. - with a report from Rose Eclarinal, ABS-CBN News

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Jollibee takes on US, global markets through Smashburger

MANILA - Jollibee Foods Corp said Monday it was planning to bring its US brand, Smashburger, to a global audience, as it continues to look overseas for growth.

Jollibee owns 40 percent of Smashburger, which competes in the "better burger" segment with Shake Shack and Five Guys. It has the option to raise its stake to 100 percent through its subsidiary, Bee Good Inc.

"We believe it has great potential to go international because it is superior tasting," Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong told ANC's The Boss in an exclusive interview.

Potential overseas markets for Smashburger include the Philippines, where Jollibee also operates Burger King, Tanmantiong said.

Smashburger will not compete with Burger King since it is on a higher price tier, he said.

Tanmantiong said Smashburger helps Jollibee learn more about the US market, which is part of the company's "three pillars" alongside the Philippines and China.

"With the joint partnership, we can help them grow from a regional chain into a national chain," he said.

The company's 1,000th store on Monday, located in Bonifacio Global City, will be open to the public on Tuesday. A blessing was held on Monday.


Tanmantiong said Jollibee was "open" to acquisitions and the strategy overseas included attracting locals, not just expatriate Filipino workers.

In Singapore, 4 out of 5 Jollibee branches cater mostly to locals. The same is true in Brunei for 85 percent of its 14 stores, he said.

Jollibee incurred costs from complying with new labor rules but the company was able to manage this, along with higher prices of raw materials, he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com