This article is a tribute and some sort of an eye opener to one of the largest Philippine Franchise today.

Who is Jollibee? What is Jollibee? Jollibee Philippines is one of the most popular philippine franchise. Originally opened as a Magnolia Ice Cream parlor at Cubao in 1975, the name was originally called Jolibe. In 1978, the business focus shifted from ice cream to hamburgers. Jollibee studies showed a much larger market was waiting to get tapped. Lumba became Tony Tan’s first business and management mentor. After changing the name to Jollibee, the Jollibee mascot was nspired by local and foreign children’s books. Developed by a management consultant named, Manuel C. Lumba working for Tony Tan Caktiong next created the product name “Yumburger” as well as the name “Chickenjoy”. Later Tony Tony made Manny Lumpa in charge of developing the franchise. The stores were re-designed, the service transformed into a full self-service, fast food operation with drive thrus. The first headquarters was located on Main St. in Cubao, Quezon City. Lumba developed a long-term marketing strategy, listing up a number of consumer promotions and traffic building schemes while maintaining internal strengths required by Tony Tan.

We won’t be going in detail on how Jollibee Philippines exactly work. We are here to analyze the reason and principle of Jollibee Philippines’ success.

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 Philippines, they can offer us a variety of different foods ranging from pizza, oriental food, coffee and baked goods. Yum!

Jollibee Philippines Organizational Structure

Success in any industry is acheived by a variety of factors, amount of capital, market segment targeting, values held by company founders and the type of people who are hired has a big impact as well. Still, something that many companies lack to take them to the next level is the organizational structure that allows the right people to be in the right place. There’s a saying that goes: First you gotta have the right people on the bus. Then you gotta make sure each person on the bus is sitting the right seat that’s designed specifically for their unique strengths. Only then do you worry about where the bus is going.

I believe that Jollibee had the same idea when they introduced a host of changes to their business beginning in 1994. These changes were mostly focused on creating more structure and taking advantage of more resources. First of all, they hired Tony Kitchner, the first outsider vice-president to handle their international operations. This was a key move to separate Jollibee International from Jollibee Philippines. They introduced FSM’s, known as Franchise Services Managers to help keep their franchise owners abreast of the new changes. These changes were aimed at creating a “world class” view, and you could see some of the changes visibly through the newly differentiated logo to the new packaging. They also instituted a dress code change as well as began to recruit from outside.

Overall, these changes certainly kept Jollibee ahead of the game, as 10 years in the future, their success would be so great as to garner the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Ernst & Young for founder Tony Tan Caktiong.

The Jollibee Philippines Mascot

I honestly wonder what goes through the heads of fast-food chain management and founders when deciding what their mascot should be. It must have been an interesting time when the creators of McDonalds came up with the idea of a friendly clown dressed in red, yellow and white. I guess things were a bit simpler for Dave Thomas when he named the franchise after his daughter Wendy, though I would hesitate to call her a mascot. We all know how bad (or maybe good?) things can get when a fast food chain brainstorms the brilliant idea of a talking chihuahua that speaks in Spanish about how much he wants (or loves?) Taco Bell. Interestingly enough, not all successful chains need a mascot (or maybe they weren’t memorable) in the case of chains like Arby’s, but many do, like Jack of Jack in the Box and The King of Buger King - all normal people with ridiculous masks or, um, heads.

Now what does this have to do with Jollibee in the Philippines? Well, many would attribute Jollibee’s success in the Philippines to its mascot, sharing the same name as the franchise: the Jollibee. Is it a coincidence that Jollibee chose its mascot to be bright yellow and red as well? Perhaps not - as gaudy as those colors may seem, they are more than vibrant enough to catch the eye’s attention. These colors exposed to children who grow up on Jollibee begin a lifelong association of bright yellow and red with delicious, affordable and fast food. Reminiscent of the memorable flavors of popular condiments for hamburgers (or Yumburgers) and hot dogs, the yellow and red bee named Jollibee is dressed in a chef’s hat along with a shirt and blazer.

Jollibee’s smiling face is friendly enough to be a favorite among kids, and his face is prevalent in many locations that include playrooms for children. Clearly, this cartoon figure is aimed at the younger generation, but it does not alienate the older generation, especially these days, when many of us have grown up eating Jollibee. It’s easy to say that this figure has been pivotal in the branding and marketing efforts that have led to such success in the Philippines.

source: Jollibee philippines .com

Personal View About Jollibee’s Taste

This next few post is in my personal point of view. I have friends and relatives that live on the other parts of the world. They have shared all their experiences in dining at Jollibee fast food chains. But one similar opinion they had is that not all Jollibee franchises are the same. They have different tastes and hospitality when it comes to service. The food is somewhat different to what we are served in the Philippines.

My friend in Hong Kong once told me, (the first Jollibee in Hong Kong) that the food is not as good as it was on the Philippines. Is it because the Philippine native chicken better? However, Jollibee is Jollibee no doubt, whereever you see that Jollibee mascot, that orange stiped honey bee smiling at you, you can never resist!

Jollibee and Mc Donalds

Like any other franchise, fast food chains like McDonalds and Jollibee is one of the leaders in providing employment for the Filipinos. It is said that 60% of all college students have had experience in working in this fast food chains during their college days. No doubt, fast food franchises helps the Philippine economy.