Carlos Chan: From Manila to China to the world

First time visitors to a foreign country usually buy the customary ref magnet, but Carlos Chan, the low-key taipan behind the iconic Oishi snack foods brand and the country’s Special Envoy to China, would buy idle land especially if his gut tells him there’s potential to expand in that territory.

That’s the joke among Mr. Chan’s staff whenever he goes to a new place overseas. That’s what happened in Uzbekistan. He liked the Central Asian country so much the first time he saw it that he immediately planned his land acquisition there.

Today, Mr. Chan’s Liwayway Group has more than 30 factories across the globe and it continues to expand.

Management Man of the Year

It’s no surprise that the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) named Mr. Chan as this year’s Management Man of the Year, adding to the roster of esteemed individuals from both the public and private sector who have attained “unquestioned distinction in the practice of management, and have made valuable contributions to the progress of the country and in re-shaping national values.”

In its announcement, MAP said Mr. Chan was chosen for “his business acumen and management qualities in transforming a local cornstarch-repacking business into an international snack manufacturing company; and for being an exemplar of the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit that is globally competitive.”

He likewise demonstrated patriotism and has been helping enhance the country’s image by carrying the Philippine flag with pride in all his business operations abroad, the MAP said.

When I congratulated him minutes after MAP’s announcement, I was surprised that he had no idea what I was talking about. I was the one who broke the good news to him.

It’s a well-deserved award, I told him and I meant it. I have been covering the Liwayway Group and have seen it grow even bigger than when I first started writing about it soon after we met in 2015.

At the time, I heard that the Liwayway Group was planning to do an initial public offering. I wondered how I could interview him to confirm the grapevine buzz, but only the older journalists knew him.

I decided to do it the long way. I sent a formal letter to his office requesting for an interview. I wasn’t very optimistic I would get an answer.

To my pleasant surprise, I received a reply a few days after, informing me that Mr. Chan had agreed to meet with me. I knew then that the company was very professional.

We met over lunch, and while he declined to be interviewed, he extended an invitation for me to see Oishi’s factory in Shanghai so I could see the business myself.

China’s famous brand

In Shanghai, I saw a sprawling factory, and yet that wasn’t Liwayway’s only factory in China.

In 2006, Oishi Shanghaojia, which is the Chinese name of Oishi in China (literally translated as “excellent, top grade and high quality”) was recognized as a “China Famous Brand” and was the first non-Chinese company to be given the “Shanghai Famous Brand Award,” according to local reports.

The Liwayway Group has come a long way. It started as a family business selling repackaged laundry starch or “gawgaw” from the United States.

Mr. Chan’s father, Chan Lib, a native of Fujian province who moved to the Philippines in 1914, put up the small business with his wife.  Mr. Chan, Lib’s eldest son, expanded the small family-owned business into the giant food conglomerate that it is now.

It was in the early ‘80s when he decided to set up operations in China because he deemed it would be tough to compete with many Filipino-Chinese businesses in the Philippines.

The timing was good because it was on the heels of the liberalization of China’s economy under Deng Xiaoping starting in 1978.

Oishi

He used the name Oishi, the Japanese term for “food tastes good”, because it was from Japan where he acquired a machine to manufacture snack foods.

Liwayway has since been steadily expanding across the globe, with South Africa and Uzbekistan among its recent expansion.

Whenever Mr. Chan, opens a new factory, he is very excited. I am in awe of his energy level and entrepreneurial spirit – such energy and passion could put younger tycoons to shame.

A few years back, I witnessed how in a grocery in Uzbekistan, during a site visit, he himself checked what types of food were available there to get to know the market and consumers’ preference.

I’m sure there will be more expansions for Liwayway in the years to come.

As for Liwayway gawgaw, I was surprised to know it still exists. Mr. Chan said even as the market for laundry starch has shrunk through the decades, the business remains – perhaps for sentimental reasons, posterity, luck or all of the above.

Indeed, Liwayway – which literally means “dawn” in Filipino – is always marking a new day as it continues to expand in new markets.

This, as MAP’s award shows, is a testament to Mr. Chan’s management skills and entrepreneurial spirit.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com