John Concepcion has always been in the food business, but from the consumer goods side, today as Managing Director and CEO of Unilever RFM Ice Cream.
About 7 years ago, frustrated that he could not find a casual dining restaurant, he went to Japan, discovered the single-dish concept, and fell in love with katsu. Searching for someone who can teach him and partner Gerry Santos, they found Kazuya, created the Yabu brand, and created the Standard Hospitality Group.
They approached others to present the single-dish concept. But it was SM that believed in them and their vision and gave them a prime location even if they were untested. The first Yabu restaurant opened at SM Megamall in 2011 and sold its one millionth katsu in 2014, and is today the country’s leading katsu restaurant. Today, all of their group’s maiden branches of exciting concepts like Ippudo Ramen have been with an SM mall.