And then, there were two

Did you know 1: Delifrance Phils. is widening its customer base by putting up a bistro (with a wider menu) at Rockwell Center and bread stations (that sells pan de sal aside from the usual croissants).

If successful, both concepts will be open for franchising in the future.

Right now, Delifrance chief executive officer Miguel Jose Navarrete has been busy "Filipinizing" the menu of the Singapore-based chain. This is, of course, nothing new to Delifrance’s Philippine master franchise, Jollibee Foods Corp.

As everybody knows, Delifrance Phils. is a subsidiary of JFC. Fact is, Mike Navarrete is concurrent JFC chief financial officer Mr. Navarette’s wife, Regina Navarrete is president and chief executive officer of another JFC subsidiary, Greenwhich Pizza Co.

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Did you know 2: La Suerte Cigar & Cigarette Factory is currently test-marketing its home-grown cigarette brand, Memphis, in the Navotas-Malabon area prior to its Metro Manila launch. (In the provinces, Memphis is called Astron).

La Suerte is using the same machines and technology during its years as the Philippine licensed manufacturer of Philip Morris/Marlboro – a major factor why Memphis is priced more cheaply than the foreign brands. Besides, it no longer has to pay royalty.

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In the late 1990s, Forbes magazine included more Filipinos in its annual listing of dollar billionaires.

Well, the latest list still has Lucio Tan as the country’s richest and the world’s 209th richest, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. The country’s second richest man and the world’s 348th richest is Henry Sy.

Not included in the list is Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family.

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Bank notes 1: Monetary Board member Antonio Alindogan Jr. has been pushing groups like the different Rotary Clubs to either put up microfinance institutions of their own or to help finance the setting up of one.

As everybody knows, microfinance is the buzzword of choice of Monetary Board chairman and concurrent Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura. So far, the number of microfinance institutions approved by the Bangko Sentral can be counted in one hand.

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Bank notes 2: Quedan Rural Credit and Guaranty Corp. president and chief executive officer Nelson Buenaflor can rightfully boast of charging one of the lowest interest rates in the country.

For small loans ranging from P5,000 to P15,000, Quedancor charges a monthly interest of 1.7 percent less than the 3.25 percent to 3.5 percent a month charged by credit card companies and the six percent to eight percent a month charged by lending investors.

Quedancor can charge lower rates because it has developed a Philippine variant to the Grameen model called self-reliant team of SRT. Basically, SRT does away with the overhead cost of social workers and collectors and instead rewards the team leader of a group of borrowers by sharing with him a percent of what he collects.