Wazzup Pilipinas!
We've fallen down the deepest bottom without any chance of surviving if we even consider fastfood like fried chicken and burgers to proudly symbolize Pinoy cuisine.
We all know they were copied from Western fastfood chains yet why are we pushing for that certain fastfood symbolized by a bee and their mostly greasy dishes as among our Philippine pride and joy.
Jollibee is from Chinese businessmen turned Filipino Chinese as their businesses continued to prosper and their families multiplied in the country. Admittedly they've grown huge, yet the food they sell could not really be attributed to Philippine soil and culture.
Their junk food is among the number one source of obesity aside from the softdrinks that they offer with their value meals.
They also only started regularizing some of their crew when several years have passed they've profited on contractuals only.
The rest of their bussinesses are mostly gotten from buying out their competitors or to gain new opportunities in the food industry.
I used to work for the said fastfood chain during my college days and back then we used to still serve catsup and mustard in plastic squeeze bottle condiment dispensers we would put back in plastic jars and stored inside the fridge at every end of the day, and all the crew in both kitchen, counter and dining area, except supervisors and managers, were only young college students needed to work to fund their education. Majority of the management were obviously Chinese based on their last names, and the crew were all Filipinos. Got my point?
Now they have small catsup sachets (not even enough to cover an entire beef patty, no more mustard, and still employing college students to serve us. And their management are still mostly Chinese. But they've grown so big there's a branch in almost every busy street corner nationwide and beyond.
Their growth is indeed phenomenal but I would question their being Filipino since their rise to fame and fortune was not due to any Filipino traits but more of their Chinese heritage just as how the mall tycoons Sy, Gokongwei, and the rest of the big names from other industries proliferated in our country.
Well, congratulations to Jollibee for its success among Filipinos, but it should not represent Filipino cuisine. The bee could wear a barong all day but he is still not authentic Filipino since his "parents" were Chinese. Again, the wide-eyed mascot is still a "singkit" inside.
How I wish there would be a true Pinoy brand from true Filipino origins to emerge above these Chinese brands. Could we still be able to uplift businesses truly managed by Filipinos and offering authentic Pinoy food among the top restaurants in the world? We could only do that if we primarily support local Filipino brands. That is the only time we could be totally proud of a globally competitive company.
#WazzupPilipinas #PambansangBlogger #Jollibee #Fastfood #FilipinoCuisine #Pinoy #ChickenJoy #Burgers #Singkit
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
Post a Comment