Village Connect
Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. President Ronald Mascarinas was named by Quezon City-based consultancy and training firm, Mansmith and Fielders Inc. as one of the Top Filipino Innovators at the 2nd Mansmith Innovation Awards.
Mascariñas was recognized for innovating the business model that led to the birth of close to 2,000 retail stores of Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters, and most recently, Hei-Hei.
Mascariñas’ vision and direction has spurred Bounty’s growth that has enabled the company to outnumber and outsell all other major take-out cooked chicken chain stores combined. He was also cited for being a trailblazing figure in promoting nationalism through sports.
Mascariñas expressed his gratitude for the recognition saying “this award is a big honor for me and is also a testament to the hard work put in by the men and women making up BAVI who ensure that innovation fuels the continued success of our organization. I sincerely thank Mansmith and Fielders for recognizing our efforts not only in making our business stronger but also in promoting love for country through sports.”
The awards ceremony will be held in the afternoon of April 26 and 27. The top Filipino innovators will be awarded the 3D printed Mansmith Innovation sculpture trophy designed by world-class and internationally- awarded Sadjid Imao. The awardees will be given the floor to personally share their insights on the keys to their successful innovations.
Over a decade ago, poultry integrator Bounty Group innovated on its business model, establishing over 2,000 retail outlets of Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters, and more recently Hei Hei chicken burger take-out stores, outnumbering and outselling all other major take out cooked chicken chain combined. It has also promoted nationalism through sports.
Aside from Mascarinas, the other awardees were Cebuana Lhuillier Group of Companies CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier, GCash President and CEO Martha Sazon, and Converge-ICT Chairman and CEO Dennis Uy.
Lhuillier, CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier Group of Companies, converted the company from a pawnshop chain to a retail powerhouse doing not just pawn-broking, but micro insurance, bills payment, money remittance, loans, collections and e-loading, among many other micro-financial services, exploiting the “sachet” concept in their pawnshop chain with over 2,500 branches.
Sazon, President/CEO of GCash pioneered in the mobile wallet and payment in the Philippines and was the first operating unicorn born in the Philippines. Its number of users have more than doubled the last two years from 20 million in January 2020 to over 50 million users by the end of 2021. GCash has expanded its fintech platform to include savings, loans, insurance, and investment.
Uy, Chairman/CEO of publicly-listed Converge ICT is the first to introduce end-to-end fiber internet in the Philippines, implementing a market-driven strategy by launching a new tech category of high-speed broadband to millions of underserved customers in the Philippines, capturing a dominant market shares of fiber internet despite being a late entrant in the telecom industry.
By Rose de la Cruz
