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A Jolly Bee History
Added: (Wed Jun 24 2009)
When it comes to a fast-food restaurant that every Filipino kid loves, Jollibee is known to the most popular one. For years, Jollibee has been one of the most popular fast-food restaurants when it comes to providing just what every Filipino kid desires, fun and enjoyment. Jollibee's success in the field didn't only come from its mouth-watering menus, but also because of the fun it provides for Filipino children. One of them is by including fun and games such as obstacle courses inside the restaurant itself. In fact, Jollibee Philippine was mainly founded for the kids, even naming some of their menus for the enjoyment of kids such as ChickEnjoy, Jolly Spaghetti, and YumBurger. But best of all, Jollibee cater's to the unique taste that Filipinos across the world are looking for.
Jollbee has been serving the Filipino people for years, celebrating together with our birthdays and anniversaries. But have you ever asked when and how Jollibee became so successful? And when did they become the Jollibee we all know today that serves both good food and good fun and enjoyment? All the things we see today in every Jollibee fast-food restaurant was the conception of its founder, Tony Tan Caktiong. Though the restaurant in the past was far from what it is today, Tony never failed to provide the enjoyment every child should have.
The Beginnings
Before the Jollibee Philippine that we all known about, Tony Tan Caktiong and his family first opened it as a Magnolia Ice Cream parlor from Bankerohan, Davao City to Cubao in 1975 with Jolibee as the original name. Sometime in 1978, Caktiong and his brothers and sisters engaged the services of a management consultant, Manuel C. Lumba. Lumba shifted the business focus from ice cream to hamburgers, after his studies showed that a much larger market was waiting to be exploited. They then started to turn an ice cream parlor into the first Jollibee branch.
Lumba had the name changed from Jolibe to Jolly Bee, then to the one-word name Jollibee. Next, Lumba conceptualized the Jollibee mascot, inspired by local and foreign children's books, and created the product name "Yumburger" as well as "Chickenjoy". He had the company incorporated and leased a house on Main St. in Cubao, Quezon City, as their first headquarters. Lumba also formulated the company's long-term marketing strategy, listing a number of consumer promotions and traffic-building schemes. Tony Tan stressed that developing internal strengths was primary.
The stores were re-designed, the restaurant transformed into a full self-service, fast food operation with drive thrus. Not long after, Tony Tan and Manny Lumba went on an observation tour in the United States, attended food service and equipment conventions. Tony Tan put Manny Lumba in charge of franchise development.
Today, Jollibee Philippine has now been considered as one of the biggest fast-food restaurants of the world. As of end-September, 2008, JFC has 1,490 local and 228 foreign stores. This number directly competes with other big fast-food restaurants such as Wendy's, Burger King, and most especially McDonald's.