Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 9 No. 3 - Enterprise
Popping Food Chains
Bernadine Siy is a successful franchisee of Seattle’s Best and other famous US food chains
By Anne Ruth dela Cruz

Love for food prodded Bernadine T. Siy to invest in a food enterprise. Her food ventures were in addition to a host of family businesses which consisted of Fil-Pacific Apparel Corporation, the makers of Jag Jeans; American Authentic Apparel, licensee of Lee Jeans; Marie-France Bodyline International, and Facial Care Center Group. “I am a food fanatic,” she says, “always on the lookout for new food creations, new restaurants, new cuisine.”

Bernadine joined the family enterprise in 1986 and was named president of Fil-Pacific Apparel Corporation. Prior to this, she was employed as a foreign exchange dealer and account officer, after earning an economics degree with honors. With no background in the food industry, she took the route of franchising to enter the industry. With a system already in place, she felt there was little room for mistakes in a franchise arrangement.

Her first try in the food business was back in 1994 when she participated in the bid for the franchise of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). She did not win the bid, but the experience left Siy “hooked” on the food business. From then on, she was on the lookout for a potential acquisition.

During a trip to New York in the same year, a friend suggested to try out Kenny Rogers Roasters which was then starting to franchise its operations. “I did not have a hard time convincing the owners of Kenny Rogers to give me the franchise because the founder, John Brown, is also the founder of KFC,” Siy said, adding that Brown had heard about her attempt to get the KFC franchise. Siy struck a good deal with Brown and the first Kenny Rogers outlet was opened in Alabang, Metro Manila in 1995. To date, there are 44 Kenny Rogers outlets all over the country.

Siy took more time in choosing her second franchise — Seattle’s Best Coffee. Sometime in 1999, Siy decided she wanted to be a player in the coffee shop business because she felt that the café lifestyle was not just a passing trend. “People can get into the coffee habit and develop a loyalty to your product.” In her search for a coffee shop to franchise, she singled out Seattle’s Best good production and organization systems. It was also well established and had the clout and experience. She opened her first branch along E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue in Quezon City in 1999 and went on to open seven more.

Her latest baby is Popeyes Fried Chicken & Biscuits, which helped widen her market base to include those in the lower income brackets. Her first branch was opened in 2001 at SM Southmall and the second at Robinson’s Cainta. “Unlike at Kenny Rogers where a customer would spend P120 to P130 on the average, at Popeyes, he would be spending around P60 to P70 for a meal,” Siy said. “Besides, the Popeye characters are appealing to customers and allowed us to jump start on brand building.”

In between Seattle’s Best and Popeyes, Siy managed to open Meal Solutions, Inc., a commissary facility to service the prepared-food requirements of food service institutions. To date, the commissary serves her first three franchises but Siy hopes to also service outside clients in the future. She put up her own commissary to be a leading “player in rationalizing the food supply chain in the country by investing heavily in food technology and logistics.” She continues, “Kenny Rogers has helped introduce a lot of new vegetables and we have established a lot of buying stations in Baguio, Pangasinan, Bukidnon, and in the Calabarzon area.” In the process, they provide a steady stream of income for their farmers.

With so many ventures under her management, Siy employs a workforce of around 2,000. “The food business is a very competitive one and it is a people business so we have to make sure that we offer the best service to our customers so that they keep coming back,” she said.

Siy plans to continue growing her franchise business, especially for Kenny Rogers Roasters. She plans to open five to six more stores in Northern Luzon after seeing the viability of having one in Baguio City.