Jollibee Group CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong is MAP Management Person of the Year for 2023

A good manager is someone who communicates well, listens actively to their colleagues and subordinates, and gives support to everyone on their team. More than that, they give valuable contributions not only to the company, but to the society as a whole.

That is what the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) sees in people to whom they annually bestow the MAP Management Person of the Year Award. For 2023, they deemed Jollibee Foods Corporation President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong as the award’s rightful recipient after showcasing exemplary leadership and management in the organization.

The criteria for the award, which has been conferred 47 times to visionary leaders in its six-decade history, include integrity, leadership, and management qualities; contribution to nation-building and values formation; effective stewardship within the confines of the highest standard of business and management practice; among others.

“This award is more valuable to us as it is a recognition of the men and women that make up our Jollibee Group family across the globe; and of the countless people whom we work with each day to bring the joy of eating to customers around the world,” Tanmantiong said in his acceptance speech.

A source of Filipino pride

For Tanmantiong, the award comes at a good time as Jollibee Foods Corporation is celebrating its 45th year in 2023, which is a milestone for him and his brother, the organization's founder Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong, and their family who set up the business with two small ice cream houses back in 1975.

Tanmantiong looked back on the company’s long history and what influenced it—from the day its popularity rose to learning how to run a business by helping with their father’s Chinese restaurant in Davao City.

“There, we learned many things, including the value of discipline and hard work, as well as the value of truly listening to your customers. The most important lesson he taught us, though, was that we needed to strive for excellence in whatever we pursued in our lives,” he said.

He also recalled their father likening running a business to a tailor making clothes, saying: “If you are a tailor, then the clothes need to be made impeccably and fit flawlessly. And if you’re in the restaurant business, you need to make sure that your food tastes really good. To this day, his words continue to guide us in our journey.”

However, running a business includes facing challenges and their business faced a huge one after McDonald’s landed in the Philippines in 1981. After having only 12 stores around the country, they were warned that McDonald’s would wipe out all local competitions, with some friends advising that they should close their business to avoid competing with a “global giant.”

Yet, this challenge only pushed them to improve their food and services. They eventually served their hugely popular Chickenjoy, winning over the Philippine market and also winning fans around the world. Chickenjoy has been voted the best chicken not only in the Philippines, but in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States.

After seeing how Filipinos love the Jollibee brand, they began bringing Jollibee to different parts of the globe to serve overseas workers. They pushed for their restaurant’s further globalization, expanding their customer base to other countries such as the United Kingdom, Brunei, and Vietnam where they now enjoy majority local non-Filipino customers at 80%, 95%, and nearly 100% respectively.

“We’re happy that this is a source of pride not only for those of us at the company, but for all Filipinos as well. It makes this award even more meaningful and exceptionally joyful as it coincides with Jollibee’s 45th anniversary,” Tanmantiong said.

“All of this would not have been possible without the dedication of all the people who have worked at Jollibee throughout the years. Without their passion, their love for the brand and country, their belief that this company is something worth sharing to the world, we would not be where we are today,” he added. “To me, they are the rightful recipients of this leadership award.”

From a local hero to a global restaurant company

Tanmantiong and his family did not just stop at growing the Jollibee brand globally. They also acquired local restaurant brands so they could penetrate foreign markets at a faster pace. Before long, from having a single brand in 1978, they have become one of the largest and fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world.

With 18 brands operating over 6,600 stores across 34 countries, including international brands such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, the Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan, and Smashburger, their global expansion focuses on three pillar markets—the Philippines, China, and the United States—and four key categories—chicken, Chinese cuisine, coffee & tea, and premium burgers with key lead brands within each.

“For chicken, we have Jollibee as the lead brand. For Chinese cuisine, it’s Tim Ho Wan. For coffee and tea, we lead with Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and for burgers we have Smashburger,” Tanmantiong said.

Another challenge came for the Jollibee Foods Corporation in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started a crisis around the world. However, they fought hard and were not only able to recover but even achieved stellar records.

“Through everyone’s hard work and dedication, our sales and operating income reached record highs in 2022, increasing by 40.2% and 58.4 % respectively from 2021. As it was, 2021 had also been a defining achievement for the company when we returned profitability to pre-pandemic levels through cost restructuring and strong cost and profit management,” Tanmantiong explained.

“In 2022, we opened 542 new stores across the globe which is our highest ever in a single year. And Jollibee Foods’ stock price outperformed the market with 6.3% growth,” he added.

By the latest quarter of 2023, they were able to outperform their record-high quarter sales and operating income of 2022, achieving the highest-performing first three quarters in the history of the Jollibee Foods Corporation.

With their business continuously growing, Tanmantiong also acknowledges their investment for the future as mapped out in their Global Sustainability Agenda Joy for Tomorrow and manifested in various initiatives such as the Farmer Entrepreneurship program, the Busog, Lusog, Talino School Feeding Program, and the Jollibee Group FoodAID disaster response program.

A leader who learns

Throughout his 45 years in business, Tanmantiong said he has learned a lot when it comes to being an employee, a manager, and an entrepreneur.

“As I look back, the company has evolved from a small, family-run business into a professional and global organization. I consider myself blessed to have had my own leadership journey grow alongside that of the company’s—from an all-around part time store crew during my college days in 1975 to store manager in 1978, to Assistant Operations Manager, to Operations Manager in 1985, to Executive Vice President, to President of the Jollibee brand, to COO of JFC Philippines, and then in 2014 when I was appointed as President and CEO of the Jollibee Group,” he recounted.

Tanmantiong placed the spotlight on four major lessons he has learned in business, starting with surrounding himself with the right people.

“It is important to surround yourself with people who are competent, passionate, and dedicated. We always knew we didn’t know everything and couldn’t do everything. So very early on, we worked with consultants and individuals to professionalize the company and chose people who shared the same values we upheld,” he shared.

Second, he said one should always share success and not keep it to oneself so everyone can prosper together.

“I have learned that genuine sharing is when you are willing to give even things you need for yourself, whether it be time or resources. It is important not to get caught up in your own success, but to be grateful and share it with the people who helped make it happen,” he said.

Moreover, Tanmantiong believes that a businessman should always maintain a positive outlook in life where one should look at every situation as an opportunity.

“We shouldn’t be angry with the people who bring up problems to us, but rather, we should thank them for being honest and helping us pinpoint a problem that when solved could make us or the company better,” he said.

Lastly, Tanmantiong said it is important to always dream big with passion and commitment.

“From that year we set up shop 45 years ago, it was our big ‘crazy’ dream which brought us to where we are now. We’ve encountered our own fair share of failure in the process, but thanks to our team and our shared dream, we persevered,” he said.

Tanmantiong concluded his acceptance speech by acknowledging every member of the Jollibee Foods Corporation, which he said is the secret to their success.

“From our store teams to those in our commissary and distribution center, our delivery riders, and in our support functions and corporate office, to our franchisees and business partners: our hardworking and passionate people inspire us every day, share in our dreams and values, and pave the road forward alongside us. We share our successes together with a positive outlook for the future, so that we can all continue to dream big with dedication and commitment,” he said.

Moreover, he acknowledged his wife of 40 years, Susan, his children, his late mom, and his siblings, especially his brother, Jollibee Foods Corporation founder Tony Tan Caktiong, for the continued guidance and support throughout his career.

“From them to all the people of the Jollibee Group, past and present, and to our millions of valued customers, it is on their behalf that I am joyfully receiving this award,” he said.

“Thank you, Management Association of the Philippines for honoring our Jollibee Group family with this award. I hope you will continue to cheer us on as we continue to go bee-yond borders, bringing the best of the Filipino to the world,” he added.

Tanmantiong has been serving as Jollibee Foods Corporation CEO since 2014. His conferment of MAP’s 2023 Management Person of the Year Award was held last Nov. 28. He is the 47th recipient of the award, following the footsteps of the likes of Tony Tan Caktiong, Jaime and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Manuel V. Pangilinan, John L. Gokongwei Jr., and Isidro A. Consunji.

***

Editor's note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring, and educational content created by The Philippine STAR in collaboration with companies like the Jollibee Group.