In China, you may not have heard of the "Philippine Restaurant King" happy bee, but you must know the "Yonghe King".

Chen Juezhong, a fast food giant whose ancestral home is Jinjiang, Fujian, is one of the top ten richest people in the Philippines. His Happy Bee Food Group has the largest fast food service network in the Philippines, with more than 2,111 branches. In 2114, Chen Juezhong acquired 85% of the shares of Yonghe King and became the boss behind this famous Chinese food brand.

Jollibee Group, which defeated McDonald's in the Philippines, was founded in 1975 by Chen Juezhong, a Fujian businessman in the Philippines. It is the largest listed restaurant chain group in the Philippines and a household name in the country. By the first quarter of 2118, Happy Bee had operated 2,895 restaurants in the Philippines and 943 restaurants overseas.

Of course, Chen Juezhong has just been known by China mainlanders because he has become the new boss of King Yonghe. In 2114, Chen Juezhong acquired 85% of the shares of Yonghe Dawang.

Chen Juezhong, 66, has a gentle appearance and a low tone of voice, but many people don't know that the billionaire who made Happy Bee a household name in the Philippines and occupied 65% of the Philippine fast food market turned out to be the son of a poor Chinese chef. In just a few decades, he built Happy Bee into the only fast food giant in the world to beat McDonald's outside the United States.

In June last year, the donation ceremony of Chen Lanyin Family Education Foundation and the groundbreaking ceremony of Shenzhen-Shanghai Second Central Kindergarten were held in Jinjiang Shenzhen-Shanghai Gangfu Community.

Speaking on behalf of Chen Lanyin's family, Chen Yunzhong, the leader of overseas Chinese in  and Shanghai, said that when her mother (Chen Lanyin) returned to China in 2116, she heard that the kindergarten in Gangfu community needed to be repaired and immediately decided to donate money to rebuild the kindergarten. "It is the wish of overseas Chinese to contribute to education and charity in their hometown. Now that the second central kindergarten in Shenzhen and Shanghai has started construction, we feel very proud and gratified, and we hope that more overseas Chinese will care about the public welfare undertakings in their hometown."

Chen Lanyin is the mother of Chen Juezhong, the founder of Happy Bee Group. Chen Juezhong, born in 1953, is a native of Shenhu Gangfu Community in Jinjiang, Fujian, ranking third among seven brothers and sisters. Chen Yunzhong, director of Happy Bee Group, is Chen Juezhong's younger brother.

"It takes ten years to plant trees and a hundred years to cultivate people". In February, 2117, the 71st anniversary of the establishment of Shenzhen-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Fuzhou Association in the Philippines and the inauguration ceremony of the 36th Managing Director were held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. At that year's celebration, a donation ceremony was also held. Chen Juezhong, the chairman of the Philippine Happy Bee Group and the honorary chairman of the Shenzhen-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Fu Association in the Philippines, donated a kindergarten to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Fu community in his hometown.

Chen Jue-zhong's father, a native of Hong Kong Fu community in Shenhu, Jinjiang, went to the Philippines to make a living at the age of 13. He first worked as a handyman in a restaurant and worked as a chef in a Chinese restaurant in Manila. In the 1961s, Mr. Chen Lao himself opened a Chinese restaurant in the south of the Philippines.

At that time, the hardware condition of Chen Juezhong's father's restaurant was not very good, and it often leaked rain, but because of his good craftsmanship and kindness, he attracted many guests around. When Chen Juezhong was a child, he often helped his father in a restaurant with his younger brother Chen Yunzhong after school. Chen Juezhong said that his father often said to their brothers and sisters: "If you are a tailor, you should make good clothes;" If it is catering, the taste must be good. "

Later, Chen Juezhong returned to Manila to study chemical engineering at the University of St. Thomas (UST). In 1975, after graduating from college, Chen Juezhong, 22, and his colleagues visited an ice cream factory in Quezon. Jinjiang people, "love to fight will win", mostly with business genes, flexible mind, good at discovering opportunities. Careful Chen Juezhong found in a poster that this ice cream factory provides franchise.

in may, 1975, he took his family's savings, obtained the franchise with 351,111 pesos, and opened two ice cream shops, named Cubao Ice Cream House and Quiapo Ice Cream House respectively. Among them, the first ice cream house was opened behind a cinema and operated with his younger brother Chen Yunzhong.

Later, a guest suggested that just selling ice cream, a variety is too monotonous, can we sell more things? In response to customers' demands, Chen Juezhong began to add hot meals and sandwiches to the menu of the ice cream shop. To his surprise, hot meals and sandwiches are more popular than ice cream.

In late April this year, the website of Forbes magazine published the list of the world's billionaires in 2119. Among the top ten richest people in the Philippines, their ancestral homes in Jinjiang, Fujian Province accounted for 7 seats. Among them, the Philippine Happy Bee Catering Group Chen Juezhong ranked fifth.

incidentally, after the death of Shi Zhicheng, the richest man in the Philippines and SM boss whose ancestral home is Jinjiang, his children also made the list one after another, and were divided into three seats among the top ten richest people:, son of Shi Zhicheng, president and helm of SM Group, ranked eighth; HENRY T.SY JR, the son of Shi Zhicheng, and TERESITA T.SY, his elder sister, the eldest daughter of Shi Zhicheng and the female head of SM Financial Bank, ranked ninth; Shi Zhicheng's second daughter, ELIZABETH T.SY, who is in charge of SM Group's hotel and exhibition business, ranks 11th and ranks among the top ten richest people in the Philippines.

In 1978, Chen Juezhong, who had six ice cream shops at that time, decided to change his business direction after discussing with his family. He interrupted the renewal of the franchise of the ice cream factory, and turned all the stores into fast food restaurants, and became Jollibee catering company, the largest fast food chain restaurant in the Philippines.

In those years, when Chen Juezhong and his family were considering how to use new brands and logos to build their image for the catering business, they chose to choose and finally chose a smiling red bee as the brand spokesperson. Since then, a smiling red bee has diligently flown all over the Philippines and overseas.

In 1981, when Chen Juezhong's business was booming, McDonald's in the United States entered the Philippines.

Chen Juezhong later recalled that when the red arch sign of McDonald's appeared on the streets of Manila, almost everyone believed that many local brands, including Happy Bee, would be in jeopardy in the face of competition. He said: "At that time, many people changed careers and gave up the position of fast food. After much consideration, my brother and I decided to compete with McDonald's because we felt that we also had our own advantages."

Chen Juezhong believes that what he can compete with McDonald's is the local taste.

Facts have proved that Chen Juezhong's judgment and efforts are correct. He and Happy Bee impressed McDonald's and lowered his head. Up to now, Happy Bee has more than 3,611 branches all over the Philippines. With the passage of time, Happy Bee has not only defeated McDonald's, but also developed in the competition. Chen Juezhong and his company successfully acquired Chaoqun, a restaurant serving China food; We also successfully acquired Greenwich Pizza Shop, Delifrance French Bread Shop, Mang Inasal, Philippine Roast Chicken Shop and Philippine Bakery Red Ribbon.

In addition, Yonghe Dawang and Chunshuitang are also brands of Chen Juezhong's family.

Why did Happy Bee beat McDonald's?

Happy Bee has an absolute dominance in the fast food industry in the Philippines. In Manila, when you ask adults or children, happy bees are almost their first choice. For many ordinary families in the Philippines, if they want to entertain their guests with simple delicacies, Happy Bee is the best answer.

Ordinary Filipinos visit Happy Bee Chain Store at least twice a week. Even former Philippine President Arroyo claims to be a big fan of Happy Bee. Then many people ask, why did Happy Bee beat McDonald's and why is it the best fast food restaurant in the Philippines?

(1) acquire your competitors.

There is a saying in the shopping mall, "If you can't beat them, buy them!" In fact, except Happy Bee, some brands under Chen Juezhong were not founded by their family, and they have their own characteristics in recipes and flavors. When Happy Bee succeeded, he used the money he earned to buy shares of his competitors.

Yonghe king is the most typical acquisition case. In 1993, Happy Bee was listed in the Philippines, which was also the first fast food company listed in the Philippines. After listing, Chen Juezhong successively acquired fast food brands such as Greenwich, Chaoqun and Big Mill through acquisition and joining, and continuously expanded his catering kingdom.

Of course, Chen Juezhong didn't "buy from buy buy" blindfolded, but accurately targeted the consumer groups. For example, his own happy bee is suitable for families with children, while the "big mill" is more suitable for high-end people; "Chaoqun" is more popular with wage earners, while teenagers prefer "Greenwich".

In February, 2114, Happy Bee bought 85% shares of Shanghai Yonghe Dawang at a transaction consideration of 22.5 million yuan, which enabled Chen Juezhong to enter the mainland market of China. Today, apart from Yonghe Dawang, Happy Bee has more than 411 chain stores in China. In recent years, with the continuous expansion of the store, its catering projects invested in China have achieved profitability.

(1) concentration is the key to success.

Chen Juezhong said, "It's very difficult to make good food, and there are too many links to finish"; For decades, Chen Juezhong has been focusing on the catering industry, and has carefully laid out in this field.

According to him, all the finished or semi-finished products of their Happy Bee must be made in the "central kitchen" first, and then distributed to all branches, and all employees must be trained in this field. Even the ovens in major stores must be of the same brand. Chen Juezhong said, "Otherwise, how can you ensure the same temperature and the same effect?".

"Our food can't be guaranteed to be 111% the same, and there will be subtle differences in taste, but the guests won't feel it, only we know it."

(3), cooking should have a "rustic" flavor.

In 2118, Chen Juezhong and Chen Yunzhong returned to their hometown in Jinjiang. He said that wherever he went, his favorite food was peanut soup, which was the most hometown flavor. I have to eat several bowls every time I come back.

When Happy Bee entered the mainland of China, many people said that it lacked distinctive personality culture and its popularity was not high, so it was difficult to open a new world in the fiercely competitive China catering market.

But Chen Juezhong doesn't think so. He thinks that China has developed restaurants, many cuisines and different tastes in different places. Therefore, it's always a big worry for the owners of fast food restaurants.

In Chen Jue-zhong's view, the difference of regional food culture and eating habits is not the key reason why China's fast food industry can't grow. He said: "The catering industry is not like the computer industry. Its reason is simple: there is no shortage of good chefs in China, such as a bowl of beef noodles. It is easy for you to cook it yourself, but it is difficult for every chain store to make a bowl of beef noodles every day to ensure the same quality every day. Chain stores can focus on different products according to the eating habits of different regions, and the most important thing is to implement standardization and solve problems. The challenge now is how to do it all the time. "

In fact, many people don't know that the Happy Bee in the Philippines also has many American elements and flavors, and it is not just blindly following the "local flavor" of Filipinos. The dishes provided by Happy Bee are deeply influenced by the United States, but in order to distinguish them from competitors (such as McDonald's), he will use his own unique cooking methods to make the food conform to the tastes of Filipinos; This is also a big secret of his ability to beat McDonald's.

"The Philippines is a huge embarrassment for McDonald's." This is a sentence used by The Economist to evaluate McDonald's "war" with Happy Bee in the Philippines, which is very refined.

Because Chen Juezhong can accurately grasp the taste of Filipino food, Happy Bee won the Philippine market in the competition with McDonald's. Of course, for KFC and McDonald's, Chen Juezhong does not blindly reject them, but takes the enemy as a teacher and lets himself grow rapidly by learning from them.

Taiwan Province's first tea brand "Chunshuitang", like "King Yonghe", is a brand created by Taiwan Province people. In 2116, Chen Juezhong bought this brand. Many people don't know that your favorite bubble tea was invented by "Spring Water Hall".

Chen Juezhong is one of the representatives of outstanding overseas Fujian businessmen. From his success, we can see the outstanding characteristics of Fujian businessmen displayed in him. For example, it has the spirit of "opening up" and "expanding", and for example, it pays attention to "relocating to another place" in traditional culture.

In addition, charity is another notable feature of Fujian businessmen. After emigrating, they have a strong sense of geography, kinship and ethnic affinity. When they "went abroad", they were helped by their fellow countrymen, and after they made a fortune, they also actively returned to their hometown to repay their homeland.