Execs from Harvard bring adobo to US market

ADOBO Connection managing directors (clockwise from top left) Jerome Uy and wife Meredith Ngo, Carla Sia, Kellda Centeno

Adobo was the first dish they cooked together as a young couple studying at Harvard Business School. It was the food they shared with classmates to showcase one of the best aspects of Pinoy culture.

Now, husband and wife—and business partners—Jerome Uy and Meredith Ngo are bringing back to the United States not just their home-cooked adobo, but the complete lineup of their fast-casual restaurant, Adobo Connection. The restaurant is set to open in Union City, California, by the end of October.

It’s a dream come true for the couple, who have always wanted to make Filipino food part of regular dining in the United States.

Eureka moment

We feel that “the market there is really great for adobo,” says Ngo, who is flying to California for Adobo Connection’s opening.

While the traditional pork and chicken adobo will be listed on the US menu, Ngo says they will also be offering adobo pulled pork tacos and nachos to make the food more accessible to foreigners. Brown rice and eggplant salad will also be offered alongside other entrees like kare-kare, sisig, and more creative adobo meals like Cheesy Adobo, Beef Flakes Adobo, Fried Chicken Adobo.

Adobo Connection has over 50 stores here in the Philippines. It was first established by Ngo and Uy in 2010.

The idea, says Ngo, came from her husband from out of the blue.

“Jerome just gave me a call one day and said, ‘Hey, why don’t we open an Adobo Connection?’ The minute he said it, I could totally envision it—adobo connecting the taste and feel of the modern Filipino home across generations and regions all over the world. After two months, I opened the first store,” Ngo recalls.

The idea for Adobo Connection was a eureka moment for the couple. When Uy suggested it, Ngo was immediately reminded of their time in Harvard together, where they would frequently cook the household favorite for themselves and for friends.

“We always cooked adobo, since it is the quintessential Filipino dish—and sweet spaghetti,” says Ngo.

Fuzion

Both Ngo and Uy took their two-year MBA at Harvard Business School. Ngo graduated in 2002, Uy in 2003. After she graduated, Ngo worked for Citibank in New York for a year. Uy made it a point to visit her regularly.

FAMILY Combo Meal of gising gising, lumpia, kare kare, pork belly adobo and pulled pork adobo

The two got hitched in the Philippines shortly after Uy’s graduation. They moved back to Singapore where they used to work before studying in Harvard.

Ngo and Uy eventually left Singapore because they felt their busy work schedule barely left them time to spend together. Uy found a job in Japan, where they moved, but since Ngo had no work waiting for her there, she became a housewife. It was then that she first dabbled in the food business, setting up Fuzion Smoothie Cafe in Manila.

“At that time, I would have been ready to become a mom, but [Jerome] wasn’t ready yet to have kids. Since I didn’t have anything to occupy myself with, I got bored after three months,” she says. “That’s when I decided to put up Fuzion in the Philippines.”

Ngo frequently shuttled between Japan and Manila to manage Fuzion. Uy, who was working as a banking consultant in Japan, eventually quit his job to go home with Ngo and manage the business full-time with her. Uy’s involvement in Fuzion didn’t last long, however because they just couldn’t get along, says Ngo.

“We both have strong personalities that just clashed. So he went back to consulting,” she explains.

Cut by half

Fuzion soon transitioned from business to hobby for Ngo after she and Uy were blessed with two boys. When the frozen yogurt craze entered the country, Fuzion’s sales were cut by half. The smoothie cafe has only one store left in TriNoma in Quezon City.

Learning from their experience with Fuzion, the couple decided that their next business venture had to be sustainable and expandable—in short, pang-masa or for the broad market. Adobo Connection fit the bill perfectly.

With P3 million in capital, Ngo and Uy opened their first branch at the De La Rosa carpark building in Makati. Two food-court spaces soon followed. But their big break came in 2011 when they were opened a 94-square-meter spot at SM Sta. Mesa.

Again, to avoid past business mistakes, the couple decided to hire a third partner: Kellda Centeno, a business management (honors program) graduate of Ateneo de Manila University who used to be a brand manager at Unilever.

“If not for Kellda, I don’t know what would have happened to us,” says Ngo. “She’s our business partner and marriage counselor—every time we don’t agree on something, we go to Kellda and she decides.”

Ngo oversees the company’s business development (operations, franchising), Uy handles commissary and human resources, while Centeno sees to marketing and finance.

Franchising

From three company-owned stores, Adobo Connection grew to 55 branches, at last count, without outlets in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Pampanga and Bulacan. Eight are company-owned stores while 15 are company-managed franchises; the rest are wholly franchised.

Handling their US venture is their newest partner Carla Sia, a business administration summa cum laude from UP Diliman who used to work for Procter & Gamble.

To prevent franchisees from “cannibalizing each other,” Ngo and her team decided to put up another food establishment with an entirely different concept: An American comfort food joint called Chop Stop. Think pork and chicken chops, meatball spaghetti, and Buffalo wings served with a pitcher of frozen margarita or ice-cold beer.

Chop Stop currently has four branches: On Valero Street in Makati; at the Fairview Terraces and Eastwood in Quezon City; and at SM City BF in Parañaque.

With two restaurants and big plans to go global, Ngo and Uy have come a long way from the corporate career path they used to pursue.

“Corporate is very easy. You go to work at a certain time, you come home at a certain time, and when you get home, you don’t think about work anymore,” says Ngo. “With entrepreneurship, it’s 24/7. You dream about it. You own your time, but it owns you back. So, in some ways, life as an entrepreneur is so much harder than being in corporate—but it’s much more meaningful.”