The Jollibee Group held its Global Quality Conference last October 15, 2024, marking the highly anticipated return of the event that has served as a strategic platform for the Company’s quality leaders and external partners to collaborate and exchange ideas to achieve a common mission: To ensure Jollibee Group’s continuous Quality Excellence.

With the theme “Transforming Tomorrow, Today,” the summit focused on discussing actionable strategies and best practices to drive business growth and long-term success, with an emphasis on trends, innovation, digitalization, and sustainability. This is a testament to the dedication of the Jollibee Group to achieve its purpose of becoming one of the top five restaurant companies in the world and of serving great-tasting food that brings the joy of eating to everyone.

The summit also aimed to uphold the tradition of the company in gathering its quality leaders under one roof to create a roadmap for the future, bringing together over 150 participants from around the world, including Jollibee Group’s executives and quality leaders from the Philippines and other experts in the said field.

It was also designed to establish a space for building relationships and expanding networks, as well as for strengthening trust and collaboration.

The Global Quality Conference was a key segment of the week-long gathering of quality leaders held last October 14 to 17, 2024.

The participants also had the opportunity to engage in other activities, including learning sessions at the Jollibee Group main office; store tours for brand experiences at Jollibee, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Mang Inasal, and Common Man Coffee Roasters; and visits to the company’s commissary and supplier.

Summit highlights

Speakers at the Quality Management Summit covered a wide range of topics aimed at improving Jollibee Group’s operations to ensure sustainable growth and sustain its global standards of excellence.

Ernesto Tanmantiong, Jollibee Group Global CEO and President, opened the conference with an overview of the company’s record-breaking performance in 2023, and its midterm plan to triple the business in five years. He underscored quality management as an integral part of the company’s midterm goal, ensuring that food, service, and cleanliness remain at the core of business operations.

Arsenio Sabado, Jollibee Group Global Chief Human Resources Officer, participated in an insightful discussion about innovative approaches to talent management, employee engagement and organizational development. He talked about the importance of reimagining the culture of care with FSC, elevating leadership capabilities, building future-ready competencies, championing positive employee experiences, and sustaining a joyful culture to ensure lasting and meaningful transformation in the face of an evolving talent market.

David Beal, Jollibee Group Global Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Digital Marketing, along with Marcos Cadena, Jollibee Group Global Chief Technology Officer, discussed key technological projects aimed at improving customer experience, underscoring that “we all live in a reality where experience is both physical and digital.”

For her part, Elise Veloso, Jollibee Group Global Sustainability Director, led the discussion on the Company’s global sustainability agenda, Joy for Tomorrow, and highlighted the importance of sustainability by quoting the Brundtland Commission: “Sustainability is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.”

Wally Mateo, Jollibee Group Head of Global Quality Management, was also present at the plenary session, sharing insights into the future of quality, particularly the Company’s quality management vision for 2030: the Next Generation Quality 4.0. This initiative aims to modernize the Company’s strategy in overseeing and managing quality control to ensure consistent performance, enhance agility, and improve risk management.

Best practices

Drawing on his extensive experience in manufacturing, Nilo Siongco, Jollibee Group Philippines Head of Manufacturing, led a presentation on the Company’s commissary manufacturing practices in the Philippines. Meanwhile, William Li, Jollibee Group China’s Supply Chain Head, shared best practices on small-pack frozen products, end-to-end supply chain system, and integrating QMS into new products process.

Rondel Torres, a guest speaker and Sustainability Lead for Unilever Philippines, discussed the company’s sustainability initiatives, providing valuable insights that offer the Jollibee Group opportunities to benchmark its own process and identify areas for improvement.

Jon Villanueva, Jollibee Philippines Restaurant Systems Head, for his part, presented the Company’s innovative kitchen system and automation solutions. Additionally, Kelly Saunders, Vice President of Learning and Culture for Smashburger, led a detailed discussion on designing Learning Management System (LMS), offering insights on the future design of LMS: integrated, mobile, accessible, user-friendly, streamlined, and centralized. She also demonstrated the benefits and use of Smash Connect, Smashburger’s own LMS.

Nico Reyes, Regional Marketing Head for Jollibee EMEAA, discussed driving business growth in EMEAA, highlighting the impacts of high Google reviews (with 89% of consumers read online reviews of restaurant) and sharing Jollibee UK’s journey to improved business performance after FSC and sales turnaround.

Sharing their experiences in North America, Beth Dela Cruz, Jollibee Group North America President and Mackey Dimaculangan Jollibee North America Head of Restaurant Operations, also explained how Jollibee North America managed FSC during blockbuster store openings.

Jollibee Group Philippines CEO and Jollibee Global Head Joseph Tanbuntiong closed the conference and thanked the participants for joining. The quality conference served as the opening salvo the next few days of learning, which included educational sessions with leaders on best practices and a supply chain visit for international delegates.