Background
Born in a poor family who migrated from southeastern China to the Philippines in search of a better life, he became involved in the restaurant business from an early age when his father opened a restaurant. The restaurant became profitable with the help of all family members and this success enabled Mr. Caktiong to pursue a degree in chemical engineering in Manila.
At the age of 22, inspired by a visit to an ice cream plant, he set out to gain his own foothold in the restaurant business: relying on family savings, he seized a franchising opportunity with Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream and opened two ice cream parlors. In response to customer requests, he added hot meals and sandwiches to the menu, which soon proved a lot more popular than ice cream. Three years later, in 1978, he decided to capitalize on this development, discontinued the Magnolia franchise and converted his parlors into fast food outlets.
