Jollibee

Tony Tan Caktiong opened an ice cream parlour in Quezon City in 1975, noticed that customers kept ordering the hot food instead, and turned it into Jollibee in 1978. When McDonald’s arrived in the Philippines in 1981, Jollibee did something most local chains failed to do: it won, by cooking for Filipino tastes rather than copying American ones.

That means sweeter burgers, fried chicken served with rice and gravy, and Jolly Spaghetti with a sweet sauce, hot dog slices and ham. Jollibee is now a national symbol and a major global company that also owns Smashburger, and Filipinos abroad queue for hours when a new branch opens.

Around 1,700 stores, more than 400 of them outside the Philippines, from Vietnam to Canada and the UK.