The ‘Bee’ man

Credit to Author: MAYLENE STEPHANIE S. VIRAY| Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:46:58 +0000

Living his dream on his 66th birthday

HE introduced the smiling, red-and-yellow bee to the Filipinos. Filipino kids basically grown up with this bee that conquered not only the country but the whole world.

Often referred to as a big dreamer, Filipino businessman Tony Tan Caktiong, only 25 years old then, founded Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) in 1978.

JFC Founder and Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong PHOTO FROM FORBES.COM

The local dreamer who aimed big is now the chairman of the company and living his dream.

“It was a dream that one day we will build Jollibee into one of the largest companies in the world,” he said during the 2016 MVP Bossing Awards. “I never lost sight of my dream. It made me realize that dreaming big is a very important part of being an entrepreneur.”

He never stopped there. At 59, Caktiong co-founded the newly-enlisted real estate company Double Dragon Properties with entrepreneur Edgar Sia 2nd in 2012. Caktiong serves as co-chairman with Sia as chairman and CEO.

Now at 66, actively and heavily involved in JFC, his age does not hinder his performance as he welcomed two new American-based brands to his JFC portfolio, namely burger chain Smashburger and fast casual restaurant chain Panda Express.

“We are thrilled about this new relationship between Panda Express and JFC,” Caktiong was quoted saying. “Very much in line with JFC’s brand portfolio, it has excellent tasting dishes at reasonable price. Long-term, Panda Express has a high potential for broad acceptance across the country.”

Meanwhile, JFC fully acquired Smashburger in 2018, where the JFC chairman was quoted saying “We look forward to the development of Smashburger into a very strong brand and business in the United States.”

From rags to riches

Born on January 5, 1953 to a poor Chinese family originally from the Chinese province of Fujian, the Caktiongs migrated to the Philippines in search for a better life.

While here, the Caktiongs took shelter in Davao del Sur where their father had put up a small restaurant as their means of income, involving the young Tony and his brothers in the family-ran business.

Young Tony was fortunate to have finished his studies, graduating high school from the Chinese-Filipino institution Chiang Kai Shek and earned his chemical engineering degree from the University of Santo Tomas.

Barely 22 years old, Tony Tan Caktiong was already managing two ice cream parlors he was able to franchise from Magnolia Ice Cream, starting with a branch in Cubao, Quezon City. But as this business is doing great, Caktiong’s customers have started demanding food items outside its menu.

Three years later, at 25, Caktiong stopped running the ice cream business, and started capitalizing on hot meals. He successfully converted his parlors into fast-food chains, the Cubao branch being recorded as the first Jollibee outlet in the country, with a smiling red bee greeting its customers.

An interesting fact, as they were branding and naming the new business, Caktiong and his family settled with a bee as its been believed to be associated with the value of hard work. The family added the “jolly” prefix to connote happiness and enjoyment in the business, registering the “bee” as its trademark.

“From a rather crude, strange-looking bee that no bank dared to touch back in 1978, Jollibee and his cheeky smile today have become synonymous with a truly Filipino success story that is now a source of patriotic pride,” Caktiong said in a statement. “It is estimated that the Jollibee brand is now worth several billion pesos.”

By the end of 1978, Caktiong’s Jollibee brand had already recorded three milestones during its first year of operations.

With seven outlets within Metro Manila, Jollibee was incorporated as a 100 percent Filipino-owned company, posting P2 million worth of sales by year-end, with Yumburger as its flagship product.

A year later, in 1979, the popular Jolly Spaghetti was introduced in the menu. A year after, the much-loved Jollibee Chickenjoy was introduced along with the Jolly Fries. Chickenjoy later became one of its best-selling menu items.

In 1987, Jollibee marked its entry to the global platform with the opening of its first fast-food outlet in Brunei.

Meanwhile, in 1994, Caktiong expanded JFC to the pizza-pasta segment with the acquisition of Greenwich Pizza Corp.—its first acquired food brand in its portfolio.

As the year 2000 entered, Jollibee had grown so much in a span of 22 years: Jollibee stores ringed in a total of 381 stores nationwide, had added Chowking under its portfolio, and had its system-wide sales reach P20 billion.

Following Greenwich and Chowking, Chinese fast-food chain Yonghe King was acquired in 2004 as the first foreign brand, Red Ribbon Bakeshop was added in the portfolio in 2005, and Mang Inasal was fully acquired by JFC in 2016, among other brands under JFC.

Come 2010, Jollibee had already established 700 stores nationwide, with its 700th store opened in Baguio City.

As of 2018, Jollibee stores nationwide had a total of 1,000 branches, with the 1,000th store located at Bonifacio Global City, in Taguig, opened in May.

Years prior, Caktiong and Mang Inasal founder Sia ventured in a joint business in the real estate industry, establishing Double Dragon Properties Corp. (DDPC) in 2012.

Formerly, DDPC was known as Injap Land Corp. founded in 2009 by Sia alone.

Envisioned to accumulate 1 million square meters (sq m) of leasable space by 2020, DDPC is the company behind its community mall CityMall, among its other subsidiaries.

Its flagship project, meanwhile, was the construction of the DD Meridian Park, a 4.75-hectare prime office and commercial block located in the Bay Area along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City.

DDPC sets DD Meridian Park to contribute 280,000 sq m of leasable space to Double Dragon’s portfolio.

Awards and recognition

As JFC chairman, Tony Tan Caktiong was recognized for his outstanding leadership and remarkable entrepreneurial skills.

In 1986, eight years since the establishment of Jollibee, Caktiong won the Agora Award for Entrepreneurship, given by the Philippine Marketing Association. The Agora Award is given to outstanding marketers in the country.

He was later named one of the Ten Outstanding Manilans, conferred by the city government of Manila in 1988.

Jollibee’s 1,000th store located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Following his 1988 award, Caktiong was awarded the Triple A Award (AIM Alumni Achievement Award) by the Asian Institute of Management as Outstanding AIM Alumnus in 1990. The award, according to AIM, is conferred to AIM’s outstanding alumni.

In 2002, Caktiong was given the prestigious title “Management Man of the Year” by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

Two years later, he was named Ernest and Young’s 2004 World Entrepreneur of the Year.

In 2013, JFC Chairman and former CEO Tony Tan Caktiong was named Global Filipino Executive of the Year during the Asia CEO Awards.

His recent award was conferred in 2016 by PLDT SME Nation, where he was named MVP Grand Bossing.

At 66 years old, Tony Tan Caktiong has indeed made a mark in the industry and will continue to do so.

“Dreams are free so why limit what you are aspiring for? But dreaming is not enough. One needs to put in enough energy and input,” Caktiong advised.

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