At the heart of every town in the Philippines is a Jollibee outlet. Behind this giant fast-food chain is its founder and chairman, Tony Tan Caktiong, listed by Forbes magazine as the fifth wealthiest Filipino with estimated net worth of $3.2 billion as of 2023.
As of March 2024, the Jollibee Group was operating 6,886 stores worldwide, including 3,337 in the Philippines and 3,549 overseas. These included more than 1,500 branches of its flagship brand across 17 countries.
Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) set its sights on increasing its international operations particularly in the US and China as well as in the homefront.
This year, the company aims to sustain its expansion by launching 700 to 750-owned and franchised local and international outlets.
In the US, the company plans to increase branches to 500 over the next five years, focusing on 30 cities. It also seeks to cut deeper into the China market.
Born on Jan. 5, 1953 in Fujian, China, search for the proverbial greener pasture led the Tan Caktiong family to Manila, where his father found work as a chef for a Chinese temple in the predominantly Chinese district of Binondo.
The family eventually moved to Davao City where the patriarch managed a restaurant. With improved finances, Tony’s parents sent him back to Manila in pursuit of higher education. Tony enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas, College of Chemical Engineering.
During a visit to a Magnolia Ice Cream plant with some friends, Tony’s attention was drawn to a poster inviting investment of P175,000 for a franchise store. Subsequently, the family parlayed P350,000 for two outlets, named Cubao Ice Cream House and Quiapo Ice Cream House.
The family had to move back to Manila to run the two shops. As business expanded, the owners hired skilled workers as managers, supervisors and service crew.
Tony, then aged 22, thought of including hamburgers and fried chicken to the menu. It was a move in the right direction. Tony appeared to have struck paydirt.
With the food business growing by leaps and bounds, Tony decided it was time to give it a new name and a logo. He adopted the bee as a symbol of hard work, but wanted it to be a jolly, industrious insect, giving rise to the corporate title “Jollibee.”
In 1978, the Tan Caktiong family launched Jollibee in the country. Not even the advent of globally famous MacDonald’s in 1980 shook the solid foundation of Jollibee. Some friends advised him to sell out, but Tony held on to his chips.
Jollibee chefs knew the Filipino palate so well they blended that knowledge in their specialties. Over the years, Jollibee kept growing to be “numero uno” in the fast food world. At present, you would need P25 million or more for a franchise fee.
Meanwhile, there seems to be no stopping for further expansions, and the company subsequently acquired well-known food shops such as Chowking, Greenwich, Delifrance, Red Ribbon and Mang Inasal.
But what made Tony click is his courage to face challenges head on.
“If you dream big and put your dreams into action, you will indefinitely make mistakes. But don’t be scared to make mistakes. Just be quick to recognize them, learn from them as fast as you can,” he says.
Tony admits there had been some pitfalls along the way, but he kept getting back on his feet to continue his journey toward success.
Tony looks at mistakes as an opportunity to learn more for improvement. He confesses that one false move he made was to sell roasted chicken in place of the crispy fried chicken. He rectified it at the first sign of danger.
He was wont to say in his inspirational talks that dreams are free, although there is a price to attain visions.
