Jollibee Group Chairman and Founder Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong has been named the 2022 Ramon V. Del Rosario (RVR) Awardee for Nation Building during the awarding ceremony held last July 25 at the Manila Polo Club, Makati.
The RVR Award for Nation Building honors notable individuals worthy of emulation and who have demonstrated outstanding traits such as Entrepreneurial Spirit, National or Global Impact, Corporate Citizenship, and Social Responsibility.
Launched in September 2009, the prestigious award was named after Ramon V. del Rosario Sr., who was the founding president of the Junior Chamber International Manila and was also acknowledged as the “Father of Philippine Modern Industry.
“In honoring outstanding nation builders, we are helping build a business constituency for good. We do not see this as just another recognition ceremony but rather, a recommitment event as well as a continuing clarion call to make business a genuine force for good. I am confident that tonight’s honoree will join his fellow awardees in multiplying this force,” said PHINMA Chairman and CEO Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr.
Source of national pride
Dr. Tan Caktiong was chosen as this year’s awardee for his dedication to quality, innovation, and excellence, which propelled the Jollibee Group from its humble beginnings to being one of the largest food companies in the world with 18 brands across 34 countries—putting the Philippines on the global map and being a source of national pride.
“When we set our vision of being one of the Top 5 restaurant companies in the world, we never intended to become big for the sake of becoming big. We set this imbued with a sense of purpose—including that it be something we, our people, and our country can all be proud of,” Dr. Tan Caktiong said in his acceptance speech.
“To be recognized today based on the legacy and honor of the late Ambassador Ramon V. Del Rosario is both humbling and inspiring. Having built and contributed as much as he did from the ground up was certainly not easy, but he showed many what was possible, which also reminds me of something I have always believed in—that the only real limitations are those that we place on ourselves,” he added.
Dr. Tan Caktiong also addressed students and budding entrepreneurs: “For all the aspiring entrepreneurs, I highly encourage you to chase your dreams. And when you achieve your dreams, to dream even bigger. As I earlier said, the only limitations are those we place on ourselves. Believe in yourselves.”
Socially responsible business
“I thought to myself that one of the greatest forms of charity is through building a successful and growing business—as this, beyond creating jobs—also in many ways has a multiplier effect on improving lives of countless people and families: the families of our people, suppliers, franchisees, partners, and many more,” he added.
Yet the Jollibee Group has extended beyond providing livelihood to its people and business partners. Under Dr. Tan Caktiong’s leadership, the company’s social development arm the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) works to improve food access in the country through programs on agro-entrepreneurship for small-scale farmers, feeding programs for underprivileged schoolchildren, and food distribution during disasters.
“Our Farmer Entrepreneurship Program seeks to improve the capacity of small-scale farmers in the country. We help them to organize themselves and consolidate their produce for greater market competitiveness by selling directly to institutional markets such as JFC. We believe that their improved capacity for greater productivity and profit will redound to the continued growth of the nation’s agricultural sector,” Dr. Tan Caktiong said.
During the pandemic, JGF distributed 8.4 million meals for pandemic and disaster-affected communities across 358 cities and municipalities across 60 provinces from 2020 to June 2022. The company also vaccinated its employees against COVID-19 for free and offered several Jollibee stores in different regions as vaccination sites to help the country speed up its vaccination efforts.
“This award you have given me is an affirmation that we are all capable of doing great things for our country and our people. It will continue to inspire me and all of us in Jollibee Foods Corporation,” he added.
Dr. Tan Caktiong joins the ranks of other RVR Awardees such as Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Manuel Pangilinan, Henry Sy, Sr., Oscar Lopez, Vicente Paterno, Washington SyCip, George Ty, Ambassador Jesus Tambunting, Senen Bacani, Diosdado Banatao, and Jaime Aristotle Alip.
The Ramon V. Del Rosario Awards acknowledges the support of the following companies: Alibaba Cloud, Naomi Jewelry, Coca-Cola, Starport, ISO-Clean Alcohol, PHINMA Group, Union Galvasteel Corporation, Philcement Corporation, PHINMA Solar, PHINMA Education, PHINMA Properties, PHINMA Hospitality, and PHINMA Foundation.
About Jollibee Group
Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC, also known as Jollibee Group) is one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world. It operates in 34 countries, with over 6,200 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Korea, India, and Australia.
Jollibee Group has eight wholly owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Smashburger); six franchised brands (Burger King, Panda Express, PHO24, and Yoshinoya in the Philippines; Dunkin’ and Tim Ho Wan in certain territories in China); 80% ownership of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; 60% ownership in the SuperFoods Group that owns Highlands Coffee and PHO24; and 51% ownership of Milksha, a popular Taiwanese bubble tea brand.
Jollibee Group, through its subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) owns 90% participating interest in Titan Dining LP, a private equity fund that ultimately owns the Tim Ho Wan brand. It also has a joint venture with the THW Group to open and operate THW restaurants in Mainland China. Jollibee Group also has a business venture with award-winning Chef Rick Bayless for Tortazo, a Mexican fast-casual restaurant business in the United States.
Jollibee Group was named the Philippines’ most admired company by the Asian Wall Street Journal for ten years. It was also honored as one of Asia’s Fab 50 Companies and among the World’s Best Employers and World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes. In 2020, Gallup awarded the Jollibee Group with the Exceptional Workplace Award, making it the first Philippine-based company to receive the distinction.
Jollibee Group has grown brands that bring delightful dining experiences to its customers worldwide, thus spreading the joy of eating to everyone.
To learn more about Jollibee Group, visit www.jollibeegroup.com
About PHINMA
PHINMA is a proudly-Filipino conglomerate that seeks to make lives better through successfully run and profitable businesses in education, construction materials, property development and hospitality. We aim to give communities, not only in the Philippines but wherever else we might find the need, improved access to the essentials of a dignified life. For more information, visit www.phinma.com.ph.
About JCI Manila
Junior Chamber International (“JCI”) Manila is a premiere leadership development organization where young men join to become better leaders. It is a global organization with different chapters and the Manila Chapter is the most awarded local organization in the world. Our alumni, include Mr. Sonny Belmonte, Mr. Alfonso Yuchengco and Mr. Henry Sy, to name a few. JCI Manila’s very well-known projects include The Entrepreneurship Summit, Oplan Damayan, Dare to Care, Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), The Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Awards, etc.
The Ramon V. del Rosario (“RVR”) Award is a project of JCI Manila in cooperation with Asian Institute of Management Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr. Center for Corporate Responsibility and PHINMA with the purpose of recognizing individuals who best exemplify outstanding traits such as Entrepreneurial Spirit, Passion for Nation-Building, Corporate Citizenship and Social Responsibility, and National or Global Impact, all of which were traits and characteristics exemplified by the late Ambassador. Since its grand launch in September 2009, the RVR Awards has been the premier awards program of JCI Manila as it celebrates six decades of providing development opportunities for young people to create positive change within their communities.