Chowking facts for kids
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| Owner | Fresh N' Famous Foods (Jollibee Foods Corporation) |
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| Introduced | March 18, 1985 |
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| Previous owners | Chowking Food Corporation |
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Chowking (which means "preeminent" or "outstanding" in Chinese) is a popular fast food restaurant chain from the Philippines. It serves delicious Filipino Chinese cuisine, which is a mix of Filipino and Chinese flavors. Chowking started in 1985 and was later bought by Jollibee Foods Corporation in 2000. Many people think it's the most popular Chinese restaurant in the Philippines. There are now over 600 Chowking restaurants around the world!
Contents
Chowking's Story
How it Started (1985–1999)
The idea for Chowking came from Robert Kuan. He had an MBA degree and used to be in charge of Ling Nam, a Chinese restaurant in Manila. He helped Ling Nam grow into a small chain. However, because of family issues, he decided to leave.
A friend, Henry Sy, suggested that Robert Kuan start his own Chinese restaurant. Kuan wanted to make it a fast food place, offering a different choice from popular Western fast food chains like Jollibee and McDonald's.
Chowking Food Corporation was officially created on February 19, 1985. Robert Kuan, along with Jollibee's founder Tony Tan Caktiong and Wilson Chu, were the main investors. After two years, Kuan and Caktiong bought Chu's shares, so they each owned half of the company.
The very first Chowking restaurant opened its doors on March 18, 1985, in Makati Commercial Center (now SM Makati). In 1989, Chowking started a franchise system. This helped them open new restaurants in more places without needing all the money themselves. The first franchise opened in Meycauayan, Bulacan. By the end of that year, Chowking had ten locations.
In 1992, Chowking expanded outside of the main island of Luzon. They opened their first two stores in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao, and in Bacolod, Visayas. People thought Chowking would do well because Filipinos love Chinese food, and they liked the clean, fast service Chowking offered. By the end of 1992, there were 21 Chowking restaurants. In 1996, Chowking opened its 100th location!
When Chowking opened in places like San Fernando, Pampanga, in 1997, some local Chinese restaurants even changed their menus to be more like Chowking's popular dishes.
By late 1999, Robert Kuan decided to sell his share of Chowking to Tony Tan Caktiong, who was the head of Jollibee Foods Corporation. At that time, Chowking had 162 branches, including some in the United States and Dubai. It was known as the most successful Chinese food chain in the Philippines.
Joining Jollibee (2000–Present)
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Jollibee officially took over Chowking in March 2000. Jollibee's leaders believed that bringing Chowking into their family would help reduce costs for things like supplies, marketing, and office work. It would also make it easier to share storage space, especially if new Chowking restaurants were built next to Jollibee ones.
In 2006, Jollibee made its company structure simpler. They combined Chowking with other brands they owned, like Greenwich Pizza and Baker Fresh Foods Philippines. They renamed this combined company Fresh N' Famous Foods Inc. By then, Chowking had 342 stores in the Philippines.
From 2006 to 2008, Chowking spent a lot of money to make its operations more modern. They improved their noodle-making building and made their food production lines more automated. They have two large food preparation centers (called commissaries) in Muntinlupa that also serve as warehouses and distribution centers.
In 2010, Chowking got a fresh new look with a new logo and a new slogan: "Tikman ang Tagumpay," which means "Taste Success."
Chowking Around the World
In 1996, Chowking opened its first restaurant outside the Philippines in San Diego, California, in the United States.
Three years later, it entered the Indonesian market, opening two stores in Jakarta.
In 2004, Chowking opened its first two stores in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. By 2008, Chowking had over 400 stores in the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, and the Middle East. In Dubai, one large kitchen (commissary) supplied food to ten Chowking stores.
In 2011, Jollibee took control of Chowking's operations in the USA.
Chowking has continued to grow in the Middle East. By February 2014, Chowking had 19 stores in the UAE, five in Qatar, and two in Oman. These restaurants are often much bigger and serve more "Filipino home-style dishes" like bulalo (beef shank soup) and kare-kare (oxtail stew) because many Filipinos living there miss these dishes.
What's on the Menu?
Chowking is known for its Filipino-inspired Chinese cuisine, which is different from what you might find at other fast food places. Their menu offers dishes you usually can't get at chains like McDonald's or Jollibee.
Some of their popular items include:
- Chicken and beef dishes served with rice.
- Filipino dishes like mami (noodle soup).
- Sweet-tasting siopao (steamed buns with filling).
- Desserts like the Filipino halo-halo, which is a mix of shaved ice, milk, sweet beans, fruits, and ice cream. It's one of Chowking's most popular treats!
Images for kids
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Chowking employees in Manila during the Chinatown Solidarity Parade for Chinese New Year 2024
