These moms also "gave birth" to exceptional food brands.
On May 9, the whole world commemorates the dedication and hardship of all the “huwarang ina” as we celebrate Mother’s Day this year. I, for one, am very honored to have a mother who is loving and supportive and to have a wife who is such a great mother to my children. So, I would say that much like every Filipino, Mother’s Day is close to my heart.
But what makes it even more special is knowing that my father, Samie Lim, the father of franchising here in the Philippines, is also one of the pioneers in pushing for the celebration of Mother’s Day in the country. He once said that advocating for its yearly celebration every second Sunday of May has brought him so much joy, knowing that it would touch the lives of millions of Filipinos through the years.
My father did not stop there. Knowing the importance of mothers in everyone’s lives, he spearheaded the I Love Mom Movement, a community with over 50,000 members and still growing. Through this movement, people are urged to freely express their gratitude, appreciation, and love for mothers all over the world by filling the interet with messages, images, and videos showing the greatest love to the greatest women in the world.
Needless to say, mothers are and will always be one of the greatest influencers of our lives. They are full of wisdom, love, and patience. But most importantly, they are full of endless potential, not only to change the lives of their families, but also to change the course of the world.
In the world of franchising, our entire consulting team in Francorp Philippines is proud that more and more franchise brands are being pioneered and established by mothers. Some brands cater to health, education, and other services and some are focused on the retail sector such as beauty and technology.
But first, let’s take a look at these groundbreaking, up-and-coming franchises which are proudly owned by wonderful moms:
1| Farron Café
Farwa Hombre is the co-founder of Farron Café Ventures, Inc. and the co-owner of Farron Café and other food franchises with her husband as her partner. While studying to become a nurse, Farwa decided to go into business with her soon-to-be-husband who was pursuing his master’s degree that time. A few years and many challenges later, the Farron Café business of Farwa and her husband has entered the world of franchising. Today, Farron Café has around 250 branches nationwide.
2| Frotea
Engr. Ana Lustre-Malijan is the founder of Frotea, an FDA-approved nothing-above-100-pesos authentic Taiwan milk tea concept. Ana established Frotea in Puerto Princesa back in 2012 and even with the strong competition in the industry, Frotea was able to withstand the fad by creating a lifestyle milk tea brand. Being a mother was never a hindrance to Ana, who continued to shine in the world of business even as she worked on the franchise program of Frotea while she was pregnant. Now, Frotea continues to reach the heights of success with its growing branches nationwide because of Ana’s determination and drive.
3| House of Taho
Elena Zayco is a registered nurse based in Cagayan De Oro. While her expertise is related to the medical sector, she still persisted on going into business. After many trials and challenges, she finally found her gem in the taho business concept and that’s when she founded the House of Taho. With Elena’s passion, determination, and work, House of Taho was able to grow to four branches in just a span of seven months after its establishment in 2018. With organic, clean, healthy, and delicious taho, Elena foresees her business to grow further.
4| Jojie’s Pa-initan
Carmen Labunog, a Boholanon mother, is not just an inspiration to her family, but to many farmers in Bohol. Her business Jojie’s Pa-initan supports local farmers by sourcing ingredients from their farms’ produce. Jojie’s Pa-initan features delicious authentic Filipino dishes and Carmen uses her business to promote local foods and delicacies in honor of Filipino people and tradition.
5| Mango Magic
Christine Chan is the proud owner of Mango Magic, a concept based in Tacloban offering refreshing drinks made from freshly picked sweet mangoes. After being hit by super typhoon Yolanda, her business was able to bounce back. Even though Mango Magic is highly in demand during the summer season, Christine has developed Mango Magic to become a household beverage brand all year round, withstanding the mango dessert fad by perfecting their product quality and customer service. Being a young mom and businesswoman, she continues to improve and learn more about business in order to become successful in her craft.
6| Tempura King / Panthree Chicken Bites / Supreme Hotdogs
Oyette Santiago is the mother of various amazing brands including Tempura King, Panthree Chicken Bites, and Supreme Hotdogs. Her self-reliance, resilience, passion, goal-orientation, and strong faith in God have given her the strength and tenacity to become such an active player in the field of business. Today, her food franchises are storming the world of franchising as more and more entrepreneurs sign up with her brands.
7| Tomochan Ramen Express
Even though Akiko Okamoto is from Japan, she did not see this as an obstacle in doing business but as a great opportunity to share Japanese cuisine to Filipino consumers. She fell in love with the Philippines and upon residing here, she decided to open Tomochan Ramen Express. Akiko made sure that the ramen and other Japanese dishes being served in Tomochan Ramen Express branches are purely authentic, absolutely delicious, and very affordable.
Let’s all continue to celebrate mothers of all kinds - entrepreneurs, teachers, medical frontliners, OFWs, house moms, leaders, and more, by filling their day with messages of love, which may come in the form of pictures, videos, quotations, or even personal experiences which people can post in their social media platforms. To those who want to share messages, photos and videos to the I Love Mom Movement, visit their social media sites on Facebook and Instagram.
“I know that the pandemic has made the celebration of Mother’s Day more difficult,” my father Samie Lime says. “It was an accepted fact that many mothers who are working overseas are not able to be with their loved ones during Mother’s Day. But because of the lockdown, many of us us who are not separated by oceans still cannot be together with our mothers. I hope that we will continue to find creative ways to honor our mothers because it was from them that we first experienced how to be loved unconditionally.”
As seen in Esquire.
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