How Lucena couple found success in burgers

LC Big Mak, Burger Inc.

MANILA - Someone once said, "The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger." For a couple in Lucena, a single burger took them to a journey of almost a thousand vans that has reached millions of happy customers to date.

Francis and Edna Dy sold their first burger 31 years ago, from a mobile van along Quezon Avenue corner Rizal Street, in Lucena City. Edna smilingly recalls the long line of people along the avenue, queuing for a P3 burger to satisfy both hunger and “curiosity.”

The hamburger mobile van was just a simple idea that one day crossed Francis’s mind. Never did he know that that day, their success story is about to unfold.

Not a cook himself, Francis admits his big love for food--and eating--was the inspiration in giving birth to LC Big Mak. He took a chance in bringing his brand and concept alive during the era when American comfort food was running its course in the Philippine market.

Edna, a natural businesswoman and the hands behind Big Mak’s burger patty, recalls supporting the entire crazy yet exciting idea of the Hamburger Mobile Van.

The name LC Big Mak Inc. has a lot of history to it. LC is Lucena City where it all started. Big buns and big patties is the Big in the brand name. Mak came from the initials of Mr. Dy’s parents, Maxima and Kimsuy.

For the couple, it should not just be about “good burgers.” LC Big Mak Burger is about satisfying Juan’s taste for real American burger but made more delectable with a mix of Pinoy flavors.

The journey isn’t as smooth at it seemed, but perseverance prevailed. LC Big Mak has come a long way since the time they only had one grinder and used margarine caps as pattern for making patties. It took a lot of hard work, patience, strength and faith in God to grow LC Big Mak Inc. to its present strength of more than 850 burger vans and 12 stand-alone branches, all grilling nationwide.

The fast food sector in the Philippine is on a rapid growth spree with demand for fast-and-easy-to-eat food such as burgers and sandwiches also expanding. With this, the market’s expansion potential is hungry, precisely why LC Big Mak is steadfast on its move to wider expansion of its brand, products and services.

Thus, after 30 years of dominating South Luzon’s food scene, Francis and Edna, brought in a new breed of LC Big Mak managers--their children, Mark Francis, Dave Francis, Margaret Ley and daughter-in-law, Charmaine. Together, they thought of franchising this year, to bring forth LC Big Mak into the national landscape.

With their children at the helm, a new image for LC Big Mak was introduced that reflected their modern take on the business, while honoring the values and attitude they learned from their parents.

Partnering with the world class Francorp Philippines, to infuse the needed franchise expertise, the Dy family have big hopes that LC Big Mak will penetrate larger territories, including Metro Manila, and key cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Big burgers, as its core product, make the LC Big Mak franchise business simple, and easy to operate. Aspiring franchisees can easily own a franchise at a very cost-friendly franchise fee of P150,000 only.

For Francis and Edna, LC Big Mak burgers are made famous with this success equation: fast service + great taste + affordability.

It’s not just about good food or service per se. Standards should always be kept in mind and best practices fulfilled at a constant.

With years of proven expertise as a family in the field of business, food, manufacturing, hotel management, manpower, trucking, and trading, the Dys are well on its way to taking off LC Big Mak from that street in Quezon corner Rizal Street in Lucena, not just nationwide fame but even international.

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For franchise inquiries, call Rachelle Canuto at 09988422454 or send an email to bigmak.marketing@yahoo.com.

Franchise Talk is a content partnership of ABS-CBNNews.com with Francorp Philippines. For more information, email us at franchisetalk@francorp.com.ph or visit www.francorp.com.ph.

About the writer: Sam Christopher Lim is the Senior Vice-President for marketing & strategy at Francorp Philippines. He has over a decade of global marketing experience from Bangkok, Shanghai and most recently London. He is a multi-awarded marketer who graduated with distinction from Oxford University and was awarded with the Young Market Masters award. He is also currently Chair for ASEAN integration for the Philippine Franchise Association.