Behind-the-scenes of every langhap-sarap serving

What does it take to keep millions of Filipinos happy and satisfied with their langhap-sarap favorites, day after day? For fast food giant Jollibee, it’s a P1.5-billion investment called the Zenith Foods Corp. Commissary. With over 500 employees working up to three shifts, this wholly-owned subsidiary of Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is all abuzz with efficiency in food processing and logistics, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Located inside Carmelray Industrial Park 1 in Canlubang, Laguna, Zenith’s six-hectare Luzon facility can process up to 20 tons of Chickenjoy, 40 tons of its trademark hamburger patties, 56 tons of various sauces like the well-loved spaghetti sauce, 200,000 pies, and up to 23 tons of hotdogs, daily all of which are transported to Jollibee’s more than 600 branches across the country.

“We aim to be a center of supply chain excellence, and in doing so, we help ensure Jollibee Foods Corp.’s dominance in the country and, hopefully soon, in Asia,” declares Jim Quimbo, Manufacturing manager for Zenith’s food processing lines.

Round the rock operations

Production starts with the demand forecast from the stores, with planning done as early as two months ahead.

The three biggest and busiest production lines are those from frozen patties, hamburger buns and sauces.

For Jollibee’s best-selling burgers, high-grade beef from Australia, New Zealand and Brazil are ground, marinated, formed and frozen in the semi-automated frozen patty. Blast freezers at –35’C and metal detectors ensure the freshness and safety of every finished product.

Through fully-automated dough mixing, forming, baking, cooking and packaging, Jollibees’s burger buns go through some two kilometers of conveyor belts, making Zenith’s integrated bun production line one of the largest in the country.

The Jolly Spaghetti sauce, Palabok Fiesta sauce, soup bases and pie fillings come from the sauce production line. With bulk sautéing equipment and steam kettles, it churns out enough sauce to easily fill up two Olympic-sized pools in one day!

Flavoring the best-selling Chickenjoy, breast tapa and tocino happen in the computer-aided marinating line. Zenith preserves the quality of Chickenjoy, by dressing and marinating, then freezing the chicken cuts-up as soon as they come.

Jolly Hotdogs, meatballs, sauces and spiced ham are processed in the commissionary’s own meat processing line.

The pipeline churns out Jollibee’s twin-flavored pies, which are also shipped to Jollibee stores abroad to satisfy overseas Filipinos’ craving for the popular dessert treat.

Quality measures

To preserve Jollibee’s distinct flavor, the research and development team determines a more conservative shelf-life, based primarily on flavor, for its products.

Aside from being certified for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) — both globally recognized approaches and systems in regulating the quality control practices of food and pharmaceutical companies — the commissary also operates an environmentally-compliant wastewater treatment facility.

Each production line is, also shut down once a week for preventive maintenance while clean-up is conducted daily.