MANILA—Jollibee Foods Corp. founder and chairman Tony Tan Caktiong on Thursday said he wanted the success of his food empire to inspire local business to compete globally.

The founder of the country’s largest restaurant operator received the Philippine Retailers Association’s (PRA) President Award as the Pillar of Brand Globalization during the 21st Outstanding Filipino Retailers Awards 2019 in Makati City on Thursday.

Jollibee operates 3,141 restaurant outlets in the country and 1,402 abroad as of March 2019. Last year, it opened stores in London and Manhattan. It has also taken full ownership of US burger chain Smashburger.

“Our story has long belonged to every Filipinos, to those who dare to dream, to those who believe and love langhap sarap great tasting food, and to those who believe the Filipino can compete against the very best in the world, against all odds,” Caktiong said.

“I also hope that our story becomes more than simply an inspiration that will inspire more entrepreneurs who can create new and world class companies and likewise make a difference.”

Jollibee Foods Corp founder Tony Tan Caktiong receives the 2019 PRA President's Award (Pillar of Brand Globalization) pic.twitter.com/7izHdmJ4wN

— Jessica Fenol (@JessFenol) June 20, 2019

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During his acceptance speech, Caktiong recognized the “painstaking” efforts of countless individuals, noting that “Jollibee is not an overnight success.”

“The success of Jollibee Foods Corp has and continues to be driven by collective painstaking hard work and commitment by countless individuals, united by common vision, shared values and aspirations,” he said.

Other retailers that have shown outstanding performance in the field of business operations, sales growth, marketing and innovation, among others, were also recognized by the PRA.

Popular shoe brand CLN was presented with the E-Commerce Excellence Award, Penshoppe with the Outstanding Visual Merchandising Campaign Award, and Levi’s with the Outstanding Marketing Campaign award.

SM City Las Piñas was named Outstanding Shopping Center for the small category, Megaworld’s Uptown Mall bagged the award in the medium category, while SM Megamall was named Outstanding Shopping Center in the large category.

Men’s lifestyle boutique Commonwealth was the Most Promising Retailer of the Year, while the Cebu-grown grocery store Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. was named Regional Retailer of the Year.

The PRA also recognized Robinsons Supermarket as the Supermarket of the Year, while Penshoppe bagged Retailer of the Year award.

“It [retail] is ever changing and we need to be adoptive. At the end of the day, whatever platform you are, offline, online, I think the most important is how you communicate with the customer and in this age and time when everything is fast-paced, you need to be adoptive,” PRA president Rosemarie Ong told ABS-CBN News.