Robert Kuan
Roberto Fung Kuan (劉孝平; August 6, 1948 – September 15, 2018) was a Chinese-Filipino restaurateur, businessman and philanthropist who founded the Filipino fast food chain Chowking.
Born to an immigrant family in Manila, Kuan studied business administration at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Asian Institute of Management.
He ran Ling Nam, a Chinese restaurant in Binondo his family partially owned, for eight years and expanded it into a small chain.
After learning of plans to remove him, Kuan resigned and started Chowking in 1985 on Henry Sy's advice.
The restaurant started expanding in 1989 and became very successful, growing to half the size of market leader Jollibee.
Ling Nam and Chowking saw continued success, with the latter remaining the nation's largest Chinese restaurant chain.
[2]: 48 [3] Kuan's father enforced strict discipline and provided for his children's education, not wanting them to experience the hardships which he had, laboring like a carabao (water buffalo).
After attending Hope Christian School, Kuan enrolled in industrial engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
However, he decided to study at the university's College of Business Administration instead, where he found people to be more "more friendly and humane".
He started as a warehouse checker, but was later assigned to positions such as sales, merchandising and auditing, learning various management and business relations principles.
[1] In 1974, Kuan wrote his thesis on the potential expansion of Ling Nam,[2]: 51 a Chinese restaurant partially owned by his family,[4] under the guidance of dean Gavino Mendoza.
[2]: 51 [a] Ling Nam served short order food and was locally known for its beef wonton noodles and siopao.
[5] However, Kuan believed that the dividends he had to pay the shareholders, including family members, stifled Ling Nam's growth, especially since there were no regular work hours.
[3] In 1983, Kuan learned that the board was planning a meeting to relieve him of his position, as the principal owner's son wanted to take over.
Instead of Ling Nam's menu of soup and noodles, he relied on his father's recipes and created viands served with fried rice such as spare ribs with douchi and steamed chicken with chorizo.
The principal investors were Kuan, Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong and Wilson Chu.
[7] Chowking's 1992 expansion program led to the opening of the first two stores outside Luzon, in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao, and Visayas.
After Jollibee acquired Chowking, it sold the team to Shark Energy Drink ahead of the 2000–01 PBL season.
[20] Creative Dining also opened Kingfisher, a high-end Chinese seafood restaurant, in the Power Plant Mall.
[20][21] Before opening Kingfisher, Creative Dining acquired Good View, a seafood restaurant in Malate which was a favorite of Robert Kuan and his mother.
[20][22] Robert Kuan, the chairman and CEO, viewed Creative Dining as a sort of experiment after Ling Nam and Chowking.
According to Kuan, they needed over ₱1 billion to bring St. Luke's to "world-class standards" by investing in modern equipment and new facilities.
[23] During his tenure, Kuan also served as chairman of the affiliated St. Luke's College of Medicine and managed a charity program which made over ₱300 million.
[23][27] In 2012, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed a criminal complaint against the Makati Rotary Club Foundation, Inc. (MRCFI), and Robert F. Kuan, among others, for tax evasion.
They alleged that the MRCFI had misrepresented a substantial portion of rental payments as donations, compelling their lessees to disguise them as such and even demanding interest from them.
