Mang Inasal will be majority owned by Jollibee

The financial muscle and influence of Jollibee never ceases to amaze me.  As of this posting, I just went through a news article stating that Jollibee Foods Corporation  will buy 70% of chicken barbecue fast food chain Mang Inasal for 3 billion pesos.  Injap Investments of Mr Edgar Sia II will still retain 30%.  The offer was hard to resist according to news reports that is why the Sia's took it despite their intentions of going public this year.

My two cents worth: if you methodologically opened a Mang Inasal beside a Jollibee at every instance then you have taken JFC's attention.  If you've made Jollibee try to make a chicken barbecue variant in their menu then you are seen as a threat.  I think that in this instance JFC blinked, the logical solution for JFC is to acquire you.  Well played, Mang Inasal.

Anyway, what does this mean for Jollibee and Mang Inasal then?  My hunch is that the Jollibee chicken barbecue would be gone soon (and good riddance too!)  Mang Inasal would probably have a mascot (haha!)  We could probably see more Mang Inasal advertisements and product offerings.  A kiddie meal perhaps, where the toy is a bow and you can use the bamboo skewers as an arrow.  Or, they can get Bamboo as an endorser so that he can sing the song "Hinahanap Hanap Kita" again while holding bamboo skewers.  (This is the song used in the Mark Bautista commercial, this was originally sang by Rivermaya when Bamboo was still the lead vocalist.)  

But seriously, judging from the model they have used when they acquired other units like Greenwich, Chowking, Delifrance (which they sold again) and Red Ribbon they never really changed these companies and let them grow on their own.  Most probably that would be the same for the acquisition of Mang Inasal.  If Mang Inasal would improve their services I would probably change my stance on Mang Inasal then http://execlunch.blogspot.com/2010/09/repost-of-old-fb-rant.html.  

I tip my hat off to Mr Tony Tan Caktiong for another marvelous business decision.  Jollibee's influence and financial prowess never really ceases to amaze me.

A Repost of an old FB rant.

Originally posted on my Facebook Notes last February 27, 2010:

Inasar ako ng Mang Inasal!!!

"My current rant is Mang Inasal, you know that Inasal place that is mushrooming across Metro Manila. They seem to be promising when they started with unlimited rice a good menu but one aspect that got affected with their rapid growth is customer service. Case in point, I ate at the Ayala MRT branch last month and situated myself at an available table which is unfortunately near the employee's quarter. I was eating alone and a table can be occupied by 4 people. When I was already starting my meal 2 service crew who are already on their break sat at the other side. With their backs turned from me started talking to each other with no utter RESPECT for a paying customer who is trying to eat in peace. The last straw came today when my wife and I tried to ate at their branch in the building where our daughter is having her session. First of all no pork BBQ inasal one of their main menu, second the softdrink that comes with the meal is only a regular coke (my wife likes Coke Zero with her meal) but strike 3 came when they don't have the bangus meal which they promote with for their Lenten menu. And the sad part about it is that the order taker doesn't seem to know what she has on stock and doesn't even say sorry for not having the opportunity to SERVE us. If this continues with Mang Inasal, even if they expand to 500 stores nationwide they would not last long due to bad service. They are not in the caliber of the other fastfood establishments that are more professional and where customer service training is their prime consideration."

Looking back I guess the seeds of this restaurant critique blog of mine was already evident then.  Here is my policy:

If you don't serve me well I will turn my back from you and never to go back again, I will however tell you about your weak points so that you can correct your service.  

If your service/food quality affected me physically I will speak out and tell my friends of my horrible experience.  For me this is unforgivable, you would hear from me later on about a restaurant that almost rendered my daughter orphan and also the one about the falling plates on my white shirt (not once but twice!)

If I like your food/service I will give you praises and tell my friends about it.  I've always love to share good food experience with my friends.  A Japanese colleague of mine told me a few weeks ago that I have good taste in food so trust me I know what I'm doing.