A ‘pilgrimage’ to London

My wife Karen and daughter Hannah recently went on a very important “pilgrimage” to the City of London to visit a “shrine” so important to many Filipinos currently living in and around the United Kingdom. For them it is a must-see, for others it’s a modern day bucket list and for my daughter, let’s just say she has been a devotee since she was maybe two or three years old. The pilgrimage required flying from a small airport in Rotterdam in the Netherlands into London where, after checking into a price-friendly quaint hotel, Hannah immediately worked on tracking the location and public transport to get to “the Shrine.” From there I received a couple of photos of the interior and a photo of my daughter in blissful meditation of her 2-piece chicken with rice at Jollibee in London!!!

Yes, I took editorial liberty to initially tickle your imaginations, but no modern-day Filipino under 50 can deny that the portrayal or representation I made of the London Jollibee outlet is exaggerated. It has been “bukang bibig” or word of mouth among Filipinos here and abroad that if they were in London, the home of “Asia’s Favorite Fried Chicken” would be on their list of destinations. The other photo or image I got was actually of the menu board of the outlet and the offerings were almost alike to those in the Philippines, except that you had to pay in British pounds.

While my wife and daughter ordered the chicken and rice etc., I vicariously searched the photo if they had the 6- or 8-piece bucket? (I’m still vegetarian but I had to check.) Yes they did and they were affordable for Pinoys in the UK! It was surprising and reassuring to know that the prices after conversion were not so far from Philippine prices, given the fact that any foreign or US food chain generally costs much higher due to taxes, etc.

So why have I gone out of my way to feature the same photo during our show AGENDA on Cignal TV and once more write about it in this column? This is not a puff piece or PR. After reflecting on the images and speaking with my wife online, I came to realize that for many Filipinos, Jollibee London is a place for comfort food but very few really view it as a thing of national pride, Filipino excellence, a cultural icon which, in these days of racial and political divide, is an effective way of reaching the hearts of others: through their stomachs.

Consider the fact that back in the 50s and 60s the US through their various military bases had influenced, molded and imbedded our palates with all things GI, whether it was corn flakes, soda, KFC, Playboy magazine, etc. Nowadays, we actually have done some reverse engineering by establishing several Filipino restaurants, Jollibee outlets, taking over many hospitals and public schools through Filipino nurses and teachers. We have even invaded Netflix with our comedy and some made-for-TV movies. Safe to say, it’s more than chicken and rice; it’s Filipino excellence.

*      *      *

Speaking of Filipino excellence, yesterday, I got to interview Janet Jakosalem, marketing managing director of Zuellig Pharma Philippines and from the interview we managed to bring out the fact that Zuellig Pharma is the biggest supply chain/ logistics service provider for pharmaceuticals in the Philippines and has a presence in 13 other countries. They do everything from receiving pharmaceuticals from manufacturers, inventory, routing, tracking, handling and warehousing of everything from the simplest paracetamol to the most sensitive and complicated products such as COVID-19 vaccines and cancer medications.

The company started out as a family business 100 years ago as F.E Zuellig under its originator Frederick Zuellig of Switzerland, who migrated to the Philippines in 1912 and was engaged in importing various types of commercial products. By the time World War II broke out and all the way up to the early 1950s, the family observed that much needed medicines post-war were not readily available in the Philippines, unlike in other countries around the world. The family slowly built up their importation of medicines, thereby building up a vast amount of knowledge and expertise in the sourcing, procurement, handling and distribution of medicines under the harsh tropical conditions of the Philippines.

In time they established and continued to develop best practices in supply chain management, so much so that when global pharmaceutical companies set up manufacturing or sales of medicines in the Philippines, Zuellig Pharma was their obvious choice.

With the introduction of computers and supply chain apps, Zuellig has advanced to the level where they are able to determine volumes of inventory, manage stock levels, even monitor climate conditions in remote locations as well as lot expiry dates. Because they have multiple clients that use their services and facilities, Zuellig is able to spread or share the costs of operation based on percentage, which results in affordable and cost efficient supply chain management or, as we old schoolers used to call it, “warehousing.”

From what Janet Jakosalem shared, they don’t stick around for technology or market demands to catch them flat footed. They are constantly on the look out for technology or methods to increase cost efficiency and their latest accomplishment towards that goal is their LEEDS certified warehouse that was designed and purpose built to incorporate the latest in energy efficiency. The roof top is arrayed with solar panels that resulted in a reduction of electricity demands by 20 percent, their dependence on air conditioning and cooling equipment was also reduced by combining water driven cooling tubes in the warehouse facility combined with a high level of heat barriers and insulation as well as modern lighting and internal climate control programs or mechanisms. Imagine all that being built by a “FILIPINO” company, run by Filipinos! Be proud!

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]