STROLL through any supermarket’s canned goods section and the familiar logo of Jolly will be there to greet you. Jolly is a brand by the Fly Ace Corp., which includes under its umbrella Doña Elena (a line of Mediterranean products such as olive oil) and Good Life, a brand specializing in pan-Asian products especially Chinese-style noodles. The company also distributes various international brands in the country, such as Mott’s, Welch’s, and wine brand Concha y Toro. According to its Web site, Fly Ace has 36 brands under its belt. On July 11, Jolly, its first brand, and proudly homegrown, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a grand dinner in Solaire’s Grand Ballroom.

At the event, Fly Ace President Lucio Cochanco, Jr., told guests about the beginnings of the company, the roots of which were established by his parents, Lucio Sr. and Ederlina Cochanco. They sold products such as rice and oil in a store in Binondo called Jolly General Merchandise. The younger Cochanco and his siblings took over in the 1980s. The operation expanded into Fly Ace Corp. in 1993, and in 1997, the company launched its first brand — Jolly — into the market, specializing in canned vegetables and fruits, a boon to home cooks everywhere fretting about where to get canned corn and mushrooms at affordable prices.

The name Jolly was coined from the nicknames of the Cochanco siblings (Lucio Jr., was known as Jun, while his brothers, Larry and Louie, gave their initials as well). Mr. Cochanco also has two sisters, Ellen and Elliz, who are very active in the company as well.

“Our parents taught us the values of integrity, discipline, and to have the entrepreneurial spirit in doing our business. This is the backbone of how we manage our brands and Fly Ace Corp.,” said Mr. Cochanco in a speech. “We only had one goal,” he said about introducing Jolly back in 1997 — “To offer a quality brand, at a reasonable price, make it accessible, in all the retail and food service channels.”

The company took the opportunity as well to introduce its new brand ambassador, noontime TV star Maine Mendoza (herself a Hotel and Restaurant Management graduate) who appeared on stage concealing her face with a pot lid. Asked if she consumed Jolly products herself, she said, “Yes. Sobrang okay niya kasi. Favorite ko talaga mushrooms. I use mushrooms for merienda — I eat it — lalo na kapag wala na akong work, ’pag gutom (It really agrees with me. Mushrooms are my favorite. I use mushrooms in my snacks… especially when I’m no longer working, when I’m hungry).”

While Jolly’s top products include canned mushrooms and corn (not to mention its dairy arm, Jolly Cow), it also has other canned vegetables such as peas, black beans, asparagus, straw mushrooms, water chestnuts, red pimientos, chickpeas, and tomato paste. The company also has a range of cooking oils, spreads, and canned fruits (peaches, lychees, oranges, and fruit cocktail). “We get our products from different sources,” said Abigail Ng-Reyes, assistant vice-president for marketing for Fly Ace Corp. She mentioned Thailand and Europe as sources, and most of the goods arrive in the country already canned (the products are canned right after they’re harvested according to a video shown at the event).

While Jolly has certainly proven the diversity of its product range, there’s a multitude of food out there just waiting to be soaked in brine or syrup and then canned. “That’s all in the pipeline. We want to make sure that we continue to innovate, but at the same time, provide new options that have better value… our goal is really to make it accessible and affordable to a wider set of [consumers],” she said. By this she means that in the coming quarter, the company is releasing a line of vegetables preserved in pouches (pouches being a cheaper alternative to metal cans).

The products are distributed nationwide, and when asked if they plan to export their products with the loosening of trade in the region, Ms. Ng-Reyes said: “I think right now, the immediate plan is really to concentrate and focus on the Philippine business and continue to grow penetration of Jolly into more households.”

In a way, Jolly has changed the local cooking scene in the country by making products like imported mushrooms and asparagus affordable and more readily available through more channels. “We would like to think that because of the products that we have put in the market, we were able to make cooking easier,” said Ms. Ng-Reyes.

“You don’t have easy access to these vegetables. Example: asparagus. It’s not very easy to access asparagus, but because we can it fresh from harvest, we make accessible for consumers to use.” — Joseph L. Garcia

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