Alfredo Yao values education deeply, especially because he didn’t complete college. The “juice king of the Philippines” enrolled at Mapua Institute of Technology but dropped out due to financial constraints.
Now 80 and worth an estimated $385 million, Yao is one of the country’s 50 wealthiest. His journey began humbly. Born Nov. 23, 1943, into a poor family, he became the family’s breadwinner at 12 after his father, Chun Yao, died.
He wasn’t ashamed of his humble beginnings, which included selling goods on the street and napping on cardboard boxes. At 17, he started a small printing business, Solemar, with a P3,000 loan from Rizal Financing Institution, forerunner of state-run Development Bank of the Philippines. He named it Solemar in honor of his mother Soledad.
He was able to raise a number of businesses through the years—from juice drinks in tetrapacks to banking to budget airlines.
Over the years, Yao built a diverse business empire, from juice drinks to banking and airlines. With just $50 seed money, he raised Zesto Corp. that sells fruit juices, root beer and noodles across the globe.
In 1979, while on a business tour of Europe, he came across a new way of packaging called Doypack, a sealed bag made of plastic and aluminum that’s designed to stand upright. That was the ancestor of what we now call tetrapack.
Perceiving the material’s marketing potentials, he tried to sell it to Philippine manufacturers, but there were no takers.
He wouldn’t let a good idea simply go to waste, so he did it himself, and the result was an astounding success. He cornered a large slice of the industry pie.
Meanwhile, Zest-O’s performance was remarkable, prompting Yao to explore diversification. In 2008, he launched Zest Airways and sought to compete with other low-cost carriers of the country.
Somehow, competition was really stiff, so Zest Airways opted to be the first local carrier to fly tourists from China and Korea straight to Philippine destinations, skipping altogether the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The airline eventually merged with AirAsia and was renamed AirAsia Zest.
“Times have changed because of technology. The speed of technology has changed things in the business but we have to adapt, and change, too,” Yao said in an interview.
A quick run-through of his achievements would show that Yao is chairman of Macay Holdings which includes ARC Refreshments Corp. that markets RC Cola in the country. In 2020, Macay acquired Artemisplus Express, also known as Kitchen City, a domestic food-service provider, for P2 billion.
Yao also founded Philippine Business Bank that serves small and medium enterprises.
He has interests as well in hospitality and real estate, including Summit Hotel and Resorts Specialists, Asiawide Refreshments Corp. and SMI Development Inc. that showcase his business interests across multiple sectors.
Some of the companies under the wings of the Yao Group of Companies are Solmac Marketing Inc., Harman Foods (Phils.) Inc., Amchem Marketing Inc., Uni-Ipel Industries Inc., SMI Development Inc. and Summit Hotel and Resort Specialist Inc.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: “Just work hard and never lose hope.”
