Sunday is Jollibee Day

As a devoted Catholic, Sunday is the time for me to fulfill my spiritual obligations, that includes going to church and hear the mass. But for my little girl, it’s her Jollibee day. We usually hear the ten o’clock mass at the Redemptorist Church and when the mass is over my little girl would say, “Goodbye Jesus, we’ll be going to Jollibee”. I presume it’s not only my child who makes Sunday as Jollibee Day for I see a lot of children pulling their parents towards the Jollibee outlet just across the church right after the mass. There are some parents who wouldn’t heed to their children’s request, for whatever reason which I do not know, that it make these little kids cry. It makes me sad to see these kids cry but I can’t help them otherwise their parents will slap me on the face for minding other’s business and being pakialamera. If the parents don’t have the budget to treat their child to Jollibee, I guess it would be better if they just hear mass somewhere else so to avoid their kids from seeing Jollibee, that’s what I usually do if I know I don’t have money to spare for my daughter’s Sunday’s Jollibee treat.

 

While waiting for our food, a child – around four years old – seated next to the table where were seated was wondering and asking her mother how many Jollibee stores are there, who owns Jollibee and if there is a Jollibee outside the Philippines. The mother was obviously reluctant to answer the questions and was telling her child to keep quiet. The child continued asking the same questions but the mother never bothered to answer all of them. I wanted to answer all the questions but decided in the end not to for, again, I was afraid to be slapped on the face for minding other people’s business. I also wanted to tell the mother to read the history of Jollibee which was anyway posted in the wall in front of her. Anyway, I have it here to make everyone aware how Jollibee started.

 

History of Jollibee:

1975 – TAN family opens the first Jollibee (ice cream parlors) outlets in Cubao and Quiapo

1978 – Jollibee (JFC) was born as a wholly Filipino-owned corporation

1980 – Chickenjoy is hatched. Jollibee mascot debuts.

1984 – The Champ is launched.

1985 – Jollibee becomes the No. 1 fastfood chain of the Philippines

1987 – Efforts to establish a foothold abroad gain ground with the opening of an overseas outlet in dubai

1991 – Jollibee opnes its 100^th store in Bolton, Davao

1993 – Jollibee becomes the 1^st food service corporation to be listed in the Phil. Stock Exchange (PSE)

1995 – Launch of MaAga ang Pasko sa Jollibee

1996 – Opens its 200^th store in Malolos, Bulacan and open stores in Hongkong and Vietnam

1998 – the 300^th store opens in Bulacan and 1^st in Daly City, USA

2001 – the 400^th store opnes in Intramuros and hailed as the Best Employer in the Phil. By Asian Wall Street Journal

2003 – For the 6^th straight year, the Far Eastern Economic Review ranked Jollibee as the Philippine’s leading Company

2004 – Tony Tan Caktiong receives the “World Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Ernst & Young

2006 – CNBC Asia awards Ernesto Tan-Mantiong the “Corporate Citizen of the Year” award in Hongkong

2007 – 600^th store opens in Cagayan and Las Vegas becomes the 1^st US Jollibee outside California.

 

Jollibee may have received various international awards and recognition but one thing remained the same – the taste of their crunchy chicken. It’s everyone’s favorite but, sad to say, I cannot anymore indulge too much on it for it will definitely worsen my arthritis.