Jollibee Philippines

In the Philippines, the term fast food is pretty much synonymous with the Jollibee brand. It took more than just one man for it to become that way, but all it took to start was a man name Tony Tan Caktiong. The humble beginning for Tony was working with his father to operate a kitchen in Fujian, China. In 1975, Tony began his entreprenuerial journey with simply a pair of two ice cream parlors in Cubao, Quezon City.

Despite his success with the ice cream parlors, Tony didn’t stop there. He looked around the world and saw the kind of success chains like McDonalds were having. Instead of opening a franchise for an existing fast food chain like Burger King or Wendy’s, he decided to expand with the opening of his own chain of hamburger-serving fast food restaurants named Jollibee in 1978.

Since McDonald’s hadn’t yet entered into the Philippines, Tony capitalized on this fact by establishing his brand among the Filipino people. Instead of trying to learn everything from scratch, Tony traveled to the United States to learn the tricks of the trade from the already established chains such as McDonalds. By implementing these tried and true business practices back in the Phlippines, Tony’s hard work began to pay off when his business began to rapidly expand. The division of Jollibee Philippines really tries to serve the specific needs of the Filipino people and its culture by focusing its product development as well as its marketing and advertsing to target the unique and traditional Filipino family.

Today Tony Tan Caktiong serves as a success story and a role model for entreprenuers around the world. This was solified in 2004 when Tony was voted the Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. The chairman of Ernst and Young, James S. Turley said, “These awards are about celebrating global entrepreneurship and the desire to continually innovate and expand. Tony’s story is a truly inspirational one, on both these counts. We are delighted he has been selected to receive this year’s award.”

Interested in more? Read about the History of Jollibee in the Philippines.

Don’t forget to check out more at Jollibee Philippines.

When I think of Jollibee, usually all I can think about is the mouth watering Yumburgers or ChickenJoy. But in reality, it takes so much more than just food to make Jollibee. If you’re curious about business operations for both the Jollibee Philippines division as well as Jollibee International, then hopefully this article will help out a little bit.

Acquistions in the Philippines

The corporation is actually known as Jollibee Foods Corporation. Oh and if you thought that Jollibee was the only fast food chain operated by this coporation, boy are you in for a surprise. To me, it seems like JFC owns a majority stake in all of the Filipino fast food niches. Do you ever eat at Chow King? I know I love the halo-halo there, but did you know that in the year 2000, JFC acquired Chowking! That’s right, all the delicious oriental style fast food from Chow King is operated at a high level by the same corporation as Jollibee. Oh and that’s not all. Seems like Jollibee Foods Corporation has the idea that diversification is key to its future, and I think they’re on the right track. JFC also bought out the popular fast food pizza restaurant known as Greenwich Pizza. Additionally, in 2005, Red Ribbon Bakery became part of JFC. Keeping with the baking theme, JFC acquired the French cafe and bakery known as Delifrance. The division of JFC that handles business inside of the Philippines is known as Jollibee Philippines.

Acquisitions outside of the Philippines

JFC has holdings in several other Asian countries including China and Taiwan. There’s a Chinese fast food chain named Yonghe King in mainland China (based in Shanghai) that is owned and operated by JFC. Another Chinese restaurant chain named Hongzhuangyuan was acquired on September 21, 2007. This chain has 33 locations in Beijing and was purchased for the amount of US $50.5 million.

Wow! I sure was surpised when I learned about all those acquisitions. It’s interesting to note that when I walk into any of the chains above that they’re owned and operated by the same corporation. I’m glad that Jollibee has a great track record with the Filipino community and that in addition to the amazing Jollibee stores in the Philippines, they can offer us a variety of  different foods ranging from pizza, oriental food, coffee and baked goods. Yum!

Want to read more about the History of Jollibee in the Philippines?

Don’t miss more at Jollibee Philippines.

In any business, no matter how you slice it, the more effective your advertising is, the more successful you will be. The fast food indsutry is no different, and the people at Jollibee Philippines (the division in the Philippines, as opposed to Jollibee International) definitely know what they’re doing when it comes to advertising. They know their target audience very well: the traditional Filipino family, and it caters very well towards the typical family in the Philippines.

Keep it in the Family

Focusing on the cultural tradition of the importance of family values, they have made a concerted effort to make sure that Filipinos associate Jollibee with a wholesome family meal. Not so much wholesome in the nutritional sense (it is fast food overall), but wholesome meaning that feeling you get inside your heart when you watch a “perfect” nuclear family with two parents, one boy and one girl enjoy the deliciousness of ChickenJoy on TV. Jollibee is targeting two areas: both the pallete as well as the heart. As you watch the young boy excitedly bite into his Yumburger with his insatiable appetite and his mother looking on with a friendly smile as she has french fries in her hands, you’re transpoorted to this magical fantasyland. You want to be part of that family. You want your family to be like that family. And in addition to all this, you want to go to Jollibee and eat a Yumburger. It might be a stretch to say that people will think that by going to Jollibee, their family can somehow transform and conform to this social norm.

In the Real World 

And yet, when you walk into a Jollibee, you look around and many times that’s what you see: Filipino families congregating and enjoying their meal together. So what’s this say about the advertising? Is it effective advertising? I would argue that it is, but let’s not confuse correllation with causation. But at the end of the day, Jollibee keeps selling Yumburgers and ChickenJoy, so they must be doing something right with their advertising.

The Secret?

I believe it’s that intangible factor that their targeting in a person’s heart which makes it so successful. Remember that one commercial when the boy takes his mother to the local Jollibee and then he says that one day he’ll take her to Jollibee Hong Kong? That commercial is an example of successful advertising in multiple levels. It demonstrates the family value of caring for one’s parents today. It also sends the message about taking care of them in the future. Yet, not only is the boy promising mere local fast food, but he takes it to the next level by saying he will take her to Jollibee Hong Kong which resonates with each person’s internal desire for upward mobility.

In the end, it’s clear that the advertisers at Jollibee have been doing their research and know the Filipino culture very well. In addition to knowing the culture, I would go so far as to say they are contributing to the culture and changing it at the same time, something not many companies can say. Now the trick will be to see how successful Jollibee International can be by learning how to cater to a country’s niche food desires the way Jollibee Philippines has.

Want to know more? Read about the: History of Jollibee in the Philippines.

Still curious? Learn more about Jollibee Philippines.