Jollibee Group and Yoshinoya International hold partnership ceremony.

The Jollibee Group welcomed Yoshinoya International executives in a Partnership Ceremony on June 25 to celebrate their collaboration that will bring the authentic Yoshinoya Japan beef bowl experience to the Philippines.

Yoshinoya, Japan’s world-famous Beef Bowl Chain, is the first foray into Japanese food by the Jollibee Group. Jollibee Foods Corporation formed a joint venture with Yoshinoya International Philippines Inc. (“Yoshinoya International”) to operate the Yoshinoya stores in the country, with plans to expand to 50 stores in the long term.

The Yoshinoya International executives who attended the private ceremony were Tetsuya Naruse, CEO of Asia Yoshinoya International Sdn Bhd (“Asia Yoshinoya”); Shigekazu Miyata, President of Yoshinoya International; and Shigeo Kurokawa, Director of Yoshinoya International.

The Jollibee Group officially seals its partnership with Yoshinoya International
in a ceremonial beef bowl toast
led by Jollibee Group President & CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong (front row, 3rd from left),
Asia Yoshinoya CEO Tetsuya Naruse (front row, 4th from left),
Jollibee Group President for Philippine Business Joseph Tanbuntiong (front row, 2nd from left),
and Jollibee Group Chief Real Estate and Design Officer William Tan Untiong
(back row, 3rd from left).

Asia Yoshinoya CEO Tetsuya Naruse hailed its partnership with the Jollibee Group during the partnership ceremony. “In the history of Yoshinoya, I can say that we have never encountered a company such as yours. I’ve met the best partners that we could work with and I’m really looking forward to this partnership.”

"We would like to thank Yoshinoya International for partnering with Jollibee Group. Together, under Yoshinoya Jollibee Foods Inc., we will grow and expand Yoshinoya in the Philippines, and we will work hard to make it the No. 1 Japanese restaurant in the country," said Joseph Tanbuntiong, President for Philippine Business of the Jollibee Group.

In a disclosure released in February 2021, the Jollibee Group said it aims to be the leading market developer of foreign restaurant brands in the country, as these foreign franchised brands are expected to contribute to the sustainable growth of its domestic business. Jollibee Group continues to see the success of brands like Burger King, Panda Express, and PHO24 and will apply the same success drivers in expanding Yoshinoya.

Partnership for success

Like the humble beginnings of the Jollibee Group, Yoshinoya started as a family-run shop located at Nihonbashi Fish Market in Tokyo. Today, Yoshinoya has more than 2,000 global locations.

“Our dreams to make it big one day in our respective markets have driven Yoshinoya and the Jollibee Group to continuously work hard and always strive for excellence,” said Tanbuntiong. “With similar values and a true love for great tasting food, we see a strong foundation for success in this partnership.”

“I met Jollibee Group Founder and Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, and after our conversation, I concluded that there is no other company that we would like to do this partnership with. And although some years have passed since then, we have reached this moment today and it’s all thanks to all your efforts,” added Naruse.

“Part of who we are in Yoshinoya Holdings is being ‘For the People,’ which means reaching as many people as possible with our tasty and value-for-money food—this is also what the Jollibee Group is all about. I look forward to working well together and I commit that we in Yoshinoya will give our full support to the Jollibee Group,” he added.

Now ready to serve the same superior tasting and authentic Japanese Beef Bowls, Yoshinoya is set for its grand opening slated this July.

How to Teach Your Child to be a Responsible User of Social Media.

In this day and age of modern technology, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. The latest studies show that 4.62 billion people now use social media, and roughly 6% of it comprises young people. Approximately 277 million kids below 18 years old share their thoughts on Facebook, post photos on Instagram, retweet memes on Twitter, and upload videos on Tiktok for friends, family, and even strangers to see.

For most kids and teens, social media is an avenue to achieve a sense of belonging. It’s a space in the digital world where they can have fun, make new friends and connect with old ones, share interests and explore new hobbies. It’s an area where your kids can expand their knowledge, explore their creativity, and enhance their well-being. However, along with the benefits of using social media come to its risks, and cyberbullying is one of them.

Cyberbullying is defined as “bullying with the use of digital technologies.” It is repeated behavior that aims to scare, shame, or anger its target and can take place not only on social media but also on messaging apps, gaming platforms, and mobile phones. The more addicted a child or a teenager is to social media, the more likely they are to be exposed to cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is no joke, and its effects on children are no laughing matter. It can trigger different negative emotions and cause health issues for children. At such a young developing age, dealing with such emotions can be unstable. Moreover, its effect can also manifest physically, such as constantly feeling tired due to loss or lack of sleep, or even symptoms such as headaches and stomach aches. In extreme cases, cyberbullying can even push children to take their own lives.

As parents, we play a pivotal role in preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Here are some ways how to teach our kids to be responsible social media users and help them stay safe from cyberbullying:

Respect begets respect

As with all relationships, whether it’s face to face or online, respect for one’s self and other people is very important. Encourage your child to treat others respectfully – no insulting or humiliating people on social media or creating and sharing nasty images of someone else, remind them to the common trolling dangers found online and that by treating people nicely, they are more likely to do the same in return.  Similarly, teach your child to block or unfriend people who do not treat them with respect.

Protect your privacy

Teach your child the importance of privacy settings. Explain to them that they can only share as much personal information as necessary on their social media sites and reiterate the importance of passwords in safeguarding them from identity theft.

Think before you click

Remind your child that what they post on the internet can be used against them. Make them understand the consequence of uploading content on social media, such as photos and videos, and how these posts will become part of their permanent online reputation. Explain to them that once you upload or post something on the internet, it will be there forever, and this may not be what they want on the internet.

Stranger danger

This rule is pretty simple, something kids should follow in real life. Don’t befriend strangers. If you don’t know them, don’t add them or engage in a conversation with them. Remind them always to be wary of the people they meet or come across online because, in the virtual world, not everyone is who they say they are.

Lead by example

Show your child how you use social media respectfully and healthfully. Talk about your social media habits and how you interact with other people online. Promote netiquette and reiterate the importance of being polite and courteous. As social media platforms evolve, their reach will expand, and their impact on our lives will be more significant and intertwined.

As parents, it is our duty to guide and supervise our kids as they explore the digital world. It is our responsibility to know what our kids do online because this is the first and the best way to protect them from cyberbullying.

How to Keep Your Family Close Together.

If you have a family that is geographically spaced far apart, you are going to want to find ways to stay close, especially after the past few years that the world has endured. You might find that it is useful for your family to keep the communication going, even if it is over a video call. With that in mind, here are three ways that you can keep your distanced family close together. 

#1 You Are Going to Need to Make Sure That You Are Celebrating Events Together

These might be religious events, birthdays, or even things that are less regular like graduations. If you aren’t together physically, there are still ways to be involved. For example, you might want to invest in man + van services and get your items moved, such as presents and gifts.

You are going to want to make sure that you are seeking out high-quality and professional services to make sure that your family's gifts are given the care and attention that they deserve. This can be an extra surprise to have for birthdays that you can’t attend or certain religious festivals to help spread family joy amongst your family and let them know that you are still in it together. 

#2 You Are Going to Need to Keep Up With Your Family Traditions

This is important for the identity of your family. Traditions are things that can be adapted to match a family's circumstances. This means that you can adapt your family’s traditions to longer distances, whether that is sending gifts as mentioned above, sharing recipes, or using photo editing software to bring photos of people together. These can be the sorts of traditions that help families keep in touch and know what is currently going on in the family. It can be a great way to enjoy religion and family processes as a unit, no matter the distance. 

#3 You Are Going to Need to Support Each Other

Now, a lot of people think that supporting a family member is giving them money and financial support, such as banding together to pay for student loans or college fees and other expenses that come the way of young people. As a result of this, a lot of family members who aren’t so rich feel like they aren’t supporting their kin and they are being a failure to the family. However, there are a lot of ways to support your family that aren't financially based. Here are some.  

• Support family members who are LGBTQ+, whether they are young or old, 
• Support family members' careers in the field they choose to go into, for example, if you live nearby to someone who works as a night nurse, pop by and make them some food or help babysit their kids. 

There are a lot of ways you can show your family that you love them, support them, and you cherish them. This is an important part of being in a family, whether you are related by blood or by kinship.

Celebrate Nutrition Month with these four well-balanced recipes for kids!

There has been a change in people’s lifestyle and diet during this pandemic. Homemakers continue to face the challenge of preparing nutritious and delicious meals. At the onset, quarantine restrictions affected income, mobility and access to healthy ingredients. Then, comes the challenge of time limitation balancing work from home and online schooling hence increase in reliance on food deliveries. With these, the health and nutrition of children are compromised.

July is National Nutrition Month. For this year’s theme New Normal na Nutrisyon, Sama-Samang Gawan ng Solusyon! Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) Group shares four well-balanced recipes that Filipino homecooks can try to improve their kids’ health, growth, and development in these evolving times.

“This celebration is timely to remind Filipino parents to look out for their children’s health and nutritional needs. Especially these days, diet is an important factor in maintaining our overall well-being and preventing diseases,” said APC Group Science Communication Executive Deborah S. Fajarda RND.

In support of the day-to-day meal preparation challenge for homecooks, below are easy to prepare, affordable, delicious and nutritious recipes that will help Filipino kids become more resilient in the new normal. These recipes are part of APC’s Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! (MPPT) program that promotes the practice of preparing and serving delicious balanced meals with the right amount of Go, Grow, and Glow food. Listed below are 4 out of 60 recipes you can serve for the enjoyment and proper nourishment of your growing kids.

Egg Fried Rice with Veggies

This is perfect for the kid’s lunch box or baon as some schools start to conduct face-to-face classes. Carrot, corn, and green peas make this rich in potassium which is important in maintaining the water balance in the body. A plate of melon and a glass of milk are best to complete this meal. See full recipe here.

Stir-fried Chicken with Mixed Vegetables

A balanced, varied, and moderate amount of Go, Grow, and Glow food in every meal is key to achieving optimal nutrition. Kids will enjoy this stir-fried chicken with veggies that are made tastier with SARSAYA® Liquid Seasoning. Best served with 1 banana to make it healthier. Bonus tip: in stir-frying, add the firm vegetables first before the green leafy vegetables. Learn the recipe here.

Fried Fish in Fried Rice

Kids need to have Grow foods in their meals for them to have a healthier body. Tilapia is rich in Selenium, a mineral that helps prevent sickness and infection. Fish is not the most popular food among kids, but this recipe may just change that and make their bodies resilient against illnesses. To make this recipe more appealing to your kids, use CRISPY FRY® Fish Breading Mix and AJI-SHIO® Garlic Seasoning Mix. Check out full recipe here.

Chicken Almondigas

The main ingredient of this recipe is chicken, a rich source of protein that functions to help form and repair muscles in the body. Season your Chicken Almondigas with Ajinomoto Chicken Powder Mix for that added flavor. You may use milk instead of egg to help bind the chicken meatballs. Learn the recipe here.

Check out all 60 Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! recipes from APC Group’s Recipe Site cookmunitybyajinomoto.com. These recipes were created for Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! Intervention Study. The APC Group and other MPPT advocates are determined to combat malnutrition especially amid the ongoing pandemic where food systems have been disrupted and have continued to affect vulnerable groups like children. The MPPT program consists of online capacity building of community health workers, online nutrition education of homemakers, and one-meal dietary supplementation among identified undernourished children.

“New normal nutrition is a call for homemakers to be more consistent and creative in making healthy food more enjoyable for your family. Support your child’s health, growth, and development by making delicious and nutritious meals that they will love.” said Fajarda. 

For more information about the MPPT program and other recipes, visit ajinomoto.com.ph.

Professional Team Post-Pandemic Learnings and How They Apply to Weekend Warriors.

A sports teams’ coaching staff, trainers, dietitians, strength coaches, and sports scientists are experts that athletes rely on to ensure optimal performance. Their understanding of each athlete’s needs build genuine relationships, fitness programs, and nutrition regimens for each athlete leads to better individual support. So, it’s no surprise that they become a fundamental part of players’ success.

When COVID hit, professional athletes, coaches, and support staff were challenged to maintain this level of engagement. Athletes feared their performance might decrease, while sports performance coaches had to stay accessible even during these uncertain times.

Similarly, people who aren’t professional athletes often have someone in their lives who they turn to for advice or accountability, whether it’s a nutrition coach or a trainer at the gym. They too had to learn to adjust to a new level of engagement.

Below we’ve shared sports performance practices that the LA Galaxy has learned over the past two years that can be applied to most weekend warriors who are returning to, or even adopting healthy lifestyles post-pandemic.

Bend it like Beckham.

Combine Tech and Training to Stay Connected

The pandemic challenged connections with players and how we were able to access them. We adjusted our approach to ensure we stayed connected and could keep the athletes on track with their personalized nutrition and physical training plans, motivated to continue achieving their daily training targets and short-term goals, while also meeting the required steps to achieve long term progressions. Social networking channels and video conferencing played a big part in maintaining a semblance of normalcy.

We also got creative by incorporating technology into the players' routines to track performance and training loads. We provided them with a variety of technology, like heart rate monitors, GPS tracking units, Apple Watch® wrist wearable devices, Oura® smart rings, which measure and monitor specific physical performance data such as resting heart rate, target heart rate zones during training, distance, high-speed running and sprinting, sleep duration and quality, and fatigue levels. By involving the athletes more in the data collection process, they became more accountable and aware of the importance of the data we were collecting and its impact on performance. We also made ourselves available to them to explain and interpret this data to continuously evolve their goals.

Staying connected with your fitness and nutrition muses isn’t just for professional athletes. These technologies are available for consumers and is a great resource to stay connected when in-person meetings are impossible. Additionally, using fitness tech together with the advice of a health coach or personal trainer, can be beneficial because professionals have the interpersonal skills that help reframe any confusion or feelings of doubt into positive actions.

Maintain Trust and a Sense of Community for a Healthy Lifestyle

The sports industry’s success relies heavily on camaraderie, in person support, and fanfare. Our athletes at the LA Galaxy are used to being surrounded by their teammates and coaches 11 months out of the year. Research has shown that camaraderie supports better psychosocial health, and benefits in competence, character, confidence, and other critical components of positive growth. To help them feel they had the same one-on-one focus and support, during the pandemic we had to individualize their fitness sessions and create effective nutrition plans that the athletes could follow at home.

Perhaps most important in ensuring the athlete’s success were virtual check-ins which fostered personal interactions. We used the time to educate them on nutrition, and funny enough, they weren’t distracted by other activities, as they may have been under normal circumstances. These one-on-one, virtual check-ins allowed us to maintain human connection. Finding new ways to help athletes learn how to cook or engage them in cooking competitions helped maintain a competitive spirit while also building a sense of community.

Making significant, long-term lifestyle changes includes proper nutrition, physical activity, a personalized plan, and support. It's about more than a single one-size-fits-all solution. Surrounding yourself with people who share your values, whether in person or virtually, will hold you more accountable to show up, learn new things, and work harder. It also has a more calming effect than doing the work alone. A consistent exercise regimen, a supportive community, and balanced nutrition are vital components of a holistic approach for a healthy and happy life.

Prioritize Physical and Mental Recovery

Another important learning was that recovery is not just resting or stretching after a game or training, but of also facilitating mental recovery. Over the past years, with stress from many sources, be it from isolation, performance anxiety, or social media stressors, it was important to develop strategies to manage it all. As their coaches, it’s not only our job to help them achieve their performance goals but to also protect their overall mental health.

Since being back in person at the training facility, we have maintained a focus on promoting positive mental health and reducing their cognitive loads. With life’s daily disruptions taking up more time and mental capacity, we try to take the “thinking” out as much as possible so they can focus on their game. We do everything we can to help them de-stress by placing a huge emphasis on maximizing recovery days. When possible, we try and vary the recovery routine for the players and some activities include beach volleyball, pool sessions, ocean swims, bike rides, and upper body gym sessions. Another addition to the program was allowing the players to sleep in and do recovery yoga sessions via Zoom from home, after packed travel schedules After the class we would remind the players to focus on hydration and quality nutrition while away from the club.

Recovery after exercise is an important part of any workout routine, no matter your level of athletic performance. Post-exercise recovery is critical for muscle strengthening and repair. A good recovery routine will not only help you avoid future injuries, but it will also have a significant impact on your fitness goals, allowing you to get back on track and train more efficiently. A combination of nutrients is essential for accelerating muscle recovery. Hydrating before, during, and after a workout, whether with water, tea, or shakes, will help replenish nutrients lost during your workout.

Whether you are a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, you can train your body and mind to perform at their optimal levels through these lessons learned.

About Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. 

Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE: HLF) is a global nutrition company that has been changing people's lives with great nutrition products and a business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers science-backed products to consumers in 95 markets by entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires their customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle. Through the Company’s commitment to nourish people, communities and our planet, Herbalife Nutrition pledges to achieve 50 million positive impacts – tangible acts of good – by 2030, its 50th anniversary.