Bilyonaryo - Business

No guts, no Gloria Maris: Here’s how Frank Lao built his restaurant empire

March 2, 2023

Bilyonaryo.com

Gloria Maris might now be synonymous with authentic Chinese cuisine, but success didn’t happen overnight for its founder, bilyonaryo Frank Lao.

Frank’s daughter, Choi Food Garden Group chief operating officer Janica Lao, shared about the restaurateur’s humble beginnings in Usapang Bilyonaryo with Ces Oreña-Drilon’s February 27 episode.

Janica said the family of her father, an immigrant from Hong Kong, was so poor when they lived in Davao that they had to scrimp even on eating siomai.

“It was so difficult for them. He was telling me, they have like… a few siomai, and then one siomai is equivalent to one cup of rice, that’s their meal,” she said.

Frank made ends meet by selling tabo, pails, and other plasticware, before venturing into stuffed toys. He eventually raised enough capital to venture into mining.

With his earnings from mining, Frank set his sights on the food business by buying Choi Food Garden and Gloria Maris, which both serve Chinese cuisine.

From getting by with one piece of siomai as a meal, the Laos are now making thousands of dumplings a day for customers at Gloria Maris branches.

“Usually they just make it fresh in the day,” Janica shared.

“Restaurants is just his (Frank Lao) hobby because all of us love to eat. It’s a way of bonding,” she added. “For us, we eat together, we wait for each other to come home to eat together.”

WATCH JANICA LAO FULL INTERVIEW ON USAPANG BILYONARYO WITH CES OREÑA-DRILON:

Related News Tags: Frank Lao, Gloria Maris, Janica Lao

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