As a young boy, I grew up in our old house in Pasay City. It was on the corner of Edsa and Taft, where a family mall now stands, which is our JV with the Ayala group. It was a family compound where my uncle Tito Ronnie and his family also lived, across our home. Pasay City during that time was known for its fires and floods so our house was usually a site for relief operations —something that my father loves to do since he has had this passion to serve ever since. He was also one of the leaders for good government in Pasay City.

So growing up, I was exposed to serving others or doing something good. Of course, as a young kid, I was also a fan of Batman, and most toys given to me were all his gadgets. In a way, I realize now that subtly, I was influenced by this superhero, whose passion was to fight evil and serve the people in Gotham City. I guess these influences in our lives come in many ways. It just reminds me how this passion to serve has been instilled in our family and companies’ values in later years.

Being in entrepreneurship advocacy for the last eight years, we have witnessed a lot of inspiring stories of successful entrepreneurs who made it through ups and downs over the years. Closer to home, it is now RFM turning 55 years old in the industry. It was not an easy ride but hard work, innovation and the passion to serve kept us going.

Since my grandfathers Salvador Araneta and Jose Concepcion Sr., together with their friends, pioneered the flour-milling industry in Southeast Asia in 1958, RFM Corporation has evolved into a diversified food and beverage enterprise, managing brands that have become household names. We have sustained a family of brands made with the tradition of quality like Selecta Ice Cream, White King Flour, Flour Mixes and Bowl Mixes, Fiesta Pasta and Spaghetti Sauces, Selecta Milk and beverages like Sunkist, Alo Green Tea and Vitwater, and they have been part of Filipinos’ lives. There were years we also nurtured brands like Swift for meat products and the Cosmos brands Pop Cola and Sarsi for carbonated drinks.

After 55 years in the industry, RFM still continues to grow, operating in seven major food and beverage categories. We are fortunate to enhance our market leadership in ice cream with Selecta accounting for over 75 percent of the market, while Fiesta leads in the pasta market with around 30 percent market share.

55 years of Filipino power

Through the past decades, RFM has always believed in empowering Filipinos. “Yes, the Filipino can!” has been the battle cry of my father, Jose “Joecon” Concepcion, and this has been the inspiring slogan of our group’s core values, which has been passed on to the next generation. Believing in Filipinos and empowering them are not just empty statements but strong commitments that transcend the current advocacies of the corporation.

My dad, for instance, started the NAMFREL in August 1984, which mobilized thousands of ordinary citizens to volunteer and defend the country’s democracy after 14 years of martial law. History proved NAMFREL to be one of the movements that ignited “People Power” in 1986 that paved the way for the new democracy under the Cory Aquino administration.

Giving back to the community has been an integral part of RFM’s corporate social values. The Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP), which started in 1961, has a vision of building a generation of inspired youth, anchored on the ideals of excellence, leadership and service to the community.

These initiatives also influenced me to embark on the entrepreneurship advocacy that is Go Negosyo, which has a vision of creating a nation of enterprising Filipinos with the right mindset and knowhow, believing that an empowered Filipino is the real and lasting solution to beating poverty and fulfilling their dreams in life. Go Negosyo presents inspiring, successful entrepreneurs to create the needed role models and mentors for many aspiring Filipinos, backed by extending free seminars and mentoring fora conducted around the country.