A Jolly Bee Around the World

For a lot of Filipinos, Jollibee is popularly known to them as the number one fast-food restaurant in the world. Now some would never believe them, but this is true. As of December 2007, Jollibee Food Corporation has become one of the biggest fast-food chains in the world with 1,655 stores worldwide and total sales of more than US$1 billion. But this wasn’t the case back when Jollibee was spelt as Jolibe and Hamburgers weren’t its primary menu.


Its founder, Tony Tan Caktiong, once started a Magnolia Ice Cream parlor down at Cubao in 1975. This particular was named Jolibe. Sometime in 1978, Tony Tan Caktiong and his brothers and sisters, being partners, engaged the services of a management consultant in the person of Manuel C. Lumba. Lumba, now Caktiong’s personal consultant, shifted the business focus from ice cream to hamburgers, after his studies showed that a much larger market was waiting to be exploited.

Lumba next re-formed the name Jolibe to Jolly Bee and made the two words form a single name Jollibee, but changed the "y" to an "i" Lumba next created the product name "Yumburger" as well as the name "Chickenjoy".


Lumba also formulated a long-term marketing strategy, listing up a number of consumer promotions and traffic building schemes. Tony Tan stressed that developing internal strengths was critical. The stores were re-designed, the service transformed into a full self-service, fast-food operation with drive thrus.


From a small restaurant down town, Jollibee Food Corporation became the largest known fast-food restaurant not only in the Philippines, but worldwide.


As of this year, 2008, Jollibee Food Corporation now holds some of the largest fast-food chains not only in the Philippines, but from other Asian countries. Jollibee Food Corporation has 1,466 stores in the Philippines namely, Jollibee (627), Chowking (377), Greenwich Pizza (236), Red Ribbon Bakeshop (194), Délifrance (28) and Manong Pepe's (4). According to its own web site, it has 23 stores overseas.


Jollibee also holds other restaurants from other countries such as the Chinese fast-food chain Hong Zhuang Yuan, Taipei restaurant Lao Dong and Chun Shui Tang tea house, and Chinese fast food chain Yonghe King.


Truly, Jollibee Food Corporation has spread its reaches just to provide every Filipino across the world a taste of home.

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