Village Connect
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), and the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) Inc. recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the reforestation of mangrove areas and promoting sustainability in communities where the popular fast food chain is located.
The MoU, a key initiative under the DENR’s Project TRANSFORM or Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability) and the JFC’s Joy for Tomorrow, outlines a shared commitment to environmental improvement, community well-being, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the Philippines.
“The partnership will strengthen collaborations for a decarbonized and regenerative future, promote science-based risk assessment, sustain climate-smart leadership and governance, and scale up community initiatives on mangrove protection and management,” said DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga.
“Our shared goal in implementing this agreement is to produce empowered community members whose lives will be made better by lessons learned under this MoU and later enable them to sustain all these activities themselves,” Secretary Loyzaga added.
JFC and JGF will mobilize volunteer employees to work with DENR’s Regional Offices in implementing community-based mangrove protection and reforestation initiatives and collaborate with DENR on additional sustainable efforts.
JFC President and Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong said that the project aligns with the global company’s sustainability agenda, Joy for Tomorrow. “This is meaningful to us at JFC because we understand our bigger role beyond doing business. We’ve always believed in the power of making a positive impact not just for our company and people, but also for the world we live in,” he said.
Jollibee is the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines, operating a network of more than 1,500 stores in 17 countries. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee enjoys the lion’s share of the local market that is more than all the other multinational fast food brands in PH combined.
It has embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan, with more than 270 international branches in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Spain, and in the United Kingdom.#
