Figaro Coffee Company
Metro Manila

Figaro Coffee Company started in 1993 as a kiosk in Glorietta, conceived by seven friends, all coffee drinkers who loved to get together every Sunday. The kiosk was named “F”, because “one of us simply loved writing ‘F’ over and over again,” said Chit Juan, CEO of what we know as Figaro Coffee Company.

Chit seemed to be logical the choice to lead the company. Each of them had their own core competence, but Chit was the finance person. Long before her formal education in Hotel and Restaurant Administration in the University of the Philippines (UP), Chit had begun doing business in grade school, selling chocolates, T-shirts, stationeries, “you name it, I’d tried selling it.”

She got her business acumen from her father, a dentist who gave up his practice midstream to engage in the spare parts and surplus jeep businesses, before going into replacements parts business for jeeps. Chit learned niche marketing from him.

A few months after “F” started operation, it became “Figaro Coffee Company,” with a shop in Glorietta that exuded an Old World ambiance. It became a favorite of many customers – their coffee was so good, they were mistaken for a foreign company. That was ironic, because Figaro uses local blends, and proudly so. The freshness (“we get it literally from our own backyard,” said Chit) guarantees the quality. Strangely, though, very few remembered the company name. “It was known as ‘yung coffee shop na nasa hallway,’” Chit said.

Soft-sell marketing tools – newsletters, brochures, posters, and table-top collateral materials – have made Figaro Coffee much more visible. The firm grew steadily. Franchising was a tempting way toward expansion, but the company took its time. “Our consultants did not allow us to franchise without building a commissary first, so we started franchising only in 1998,” said Chit. “You should have seen us when the first franchise started in SM Megamall. We were like parents watching the birth of our first baby. We were there by 6 a.m. to make sure everything went well.”

Figaro now has 52 stores. It opened stores in Hong Kong and China, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). To satisfy the requirements of both franchise and company-owned outlets, Figaro acquired additional equipment with the help of SULONG loan from SB Corporation. Franchising has helped expand Figaro’s contribution to job generation: from the original seven personnel, Figaro now provides employment to close to 500 people.

Figaro, and consequently our very own native coffee, also gained visibility through Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM)-sponsored international trade exhibits in the UAE, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden. Every time, it was a gratifying experience for Chit: “In every trade show I participate in,” she said, “people ask me about franchising. I’m just selling the product, but they’re buying the whole store.”

All this was not lost on award-winning bodies: Chit Juan was cited as one of the Top Ten Entrepreneurs in the Philippines by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2003. She was also named Small Business Entrepreneur Awardee in the first-ever Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) Philippines Awards in 2004.

From Sulong Pinoy! Stoking the Fire of Filipino Entrepreneurship vol. 2