WATCH: How to Lead in the Competitive Restaurant Business, According to Rikki Dee of Foodee Global Concepts
With restaurants such as MESA, Tim Ho Wan and Hawker Chan, Rikki Dee is leading in the restaurant business. How did he find his competitive edge?
Read the Full Story only on The Business Manual: How to Build a Multi-Restaurant Empire, According to Foodee Global Concepts Founder Rikki Dee.
Rikki Dee, the CEO and Founder of Foodee Global Concepts, has built a multi-billion peso food empire. His restaurant business has an enviable portfolio of both homegrown restaurant concepts and international franchises. These restaurants include MESA, Tim Ho Wan, Hawker Chan, Llaollao Philippines, and POUND, among others. Filipino foodies will also be familiar with past restaurant concepts which have evolved over the years, such as Krocodile Grill and Chin’s Express. Today, Foodee Global Concepts is one of Manila’s largest multi-brand food and beverage groups, with a strong presence in every major mall and food court across the nation.
In this exclusive interview with The Business Manual, Rikki Dee traces his entrepreneurial journey from his very first restaurant to today.
Dee’s first food venture was a restaurant on Pasay Road, Makati, which he opened together with his wife Beng. Speaking about those early days, Dee recalls, “Well, that was after our wedding, so we used our wedding gifts to fund it. It was very cheap. I sold my old car to finance it.”
The restaurant’s specialty? Fish heads. “It’s not common for restaurants [to] serve fish heads,” Dee explains, “especially [since] the line-up of fish heads that we did was mostly home cooking and traditional Hokkien food.”
Nevertheless, at this early stage, Dee found his competitive edge, which would drive the fledgling business to other restaurants and massive growth. “That was my competitive edge,” he says. “I knew the taste of the food we wanted. So we started serving food that was home-cooked—[food] that you don’t see in restaurants.”
Building the Restaurant Business’ Most Popular Franchises
It wasn’t long until the shop’s unique concept attracted a discerning clientele—including Henry Sy Sr., who would visit a few minutes before closing and order his favorite soup dish. He encouraged the Dees to open at his mall’s food court in SM City North EDSA.
“We were so lucky that we met the Sy family,” Dee says. “It was the start of the retail boom—the start of the malls. So we rode with them. We started in the food courts and grew with them. The rest, I would say, is history.”
From there, Dee opened eateries in SM food courts as well as restaurants such as Krocodile Grill. And when the ever-evolving landscape of the restaurant business shifted to international franchises, Dee pivoted to launch joint ventures with international restaurant brands.
Thriving After the Pandemic
Even with Rikki Dee’s massive success, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be brutal for the restaurant business, and even Dee had to strategically shut down some of his restaurants.
Dee says, “What saved us was our fundamentals and our finances. We were not leveraged. We were ready for circumstances like this—the pandemic. Our finances were affected but not depleted because of our internal management. And you should always take into consideration events like this. It can’t be a go, go, go all the way [mindset].”
Today, having weathered the storm, Dee is optimistic that Foodee Global Concepts can reach and even surpass pre-pandemic targets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Foodee Global Concepts is a premier multi-brand food and beverage operator in the Philippines, managing high-profile homegrown casual dining concepts and highly acclaimed international Michelin-starred restaurant franchises.
Enrico “Rikki” Dee founded the food and beverage empire, scaling the company from local mall food court roots into a prominent multi-billion peso enterprise across nationwide retail developments.
The extensive corporate portfolio includes recognized casual dining brands such as MESA, POUND, and Llaollao, alongside elite global Michelin-rated concepts like Tim Ho Wan and Hawker Chan.
His leadership approach emphasizes continuous menu innovation, strategic local positioning in high-traffic shopping centers, robust scaling via targeted franchise partnerships, and introducing accessible global luxury concepts.
The enterprise captured early competitive advantages by pivoting to mall food court dynamics, executing strategic bulk purchasing models, and pioneering integrated multi-viand product bundling for value-driven consumers.
