[BizSights] Making a case for Pinoy fried chicken 

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There’s no Jollibee in Japan, one of the few countries with a large Filipino community (over 300,000) that still doesn’t have a Jollibee store. 

But did you know about Jollibee’s Japanese connection? And it’s related to why Filipinos should insist that there is a distinct Philippine fried chicken.

Because of the popularity of Jollibee’s Chicken Joy in the Philippines, Japanese food seasoning giant, Ajinomoto, developed its popular breading mix Crispy Fry, to make it easier for Filipinos to make fried chicken closer to the beloved Chicken Joy.

I only learned about this recently when Koichi Ozaki, president of Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation, told ANC’s Market Edge about how Crispy Fry came about. 

“I heard from the person who developed this product (Crispy Fry) in 2004 that Filipinos love fried chicken because Jollibee penetrated all over the Philippines, but when you look at the household cooking habit, they cook fried chicken from scratch,” Ozaki said. 

It was the craze for Chicken Joy that prompted Ajinomoto to develop this unique Filipino brand that’s made in the Philippines by a Japanese subsidiary.

“So, at that moment, our R&D (research and development) members developed this product that can [make it] more easy to cook delicious fried chicken in their house. Then, the product (Crispy Fry) penetrated [the market],” he said. 

Ajinomoto made the cooking simpler by having a complete breading mix. Making fried chicken only needs two steps: coating the chicken with Crispy Fry and frying it.

To complete the Chicken Joy experience, Ajinomoto now also sells Crispy Fry Gravy Mix, for those who must have gravy with their fried chicken. 

Just how popular has Crispy Fry become in the Philippines since it started in 2004 or 20 years ago? 

Ajinomoto Philippines now sells more than 200 million sachets annually, and Crispy Fry is the number one breading mix in the country. More than half of 26 million Philippine households use Crispy Fry, said Ozaki.

Due to its popularity, Ajinomoto developed two other variants: Crispy Fry Garlic and Crispy Fry Spicy. There’s also the all purpose breading mix Tasty Boy.

CRUNCHY. Ajinomoto Philippines Crispy Fry variants on display in a store shelf in Antipolo City on May 26, 2025. Isagani de Castro Jr./Rappler

Crispy Fry has become Ajinomoto Philippines’ second most popular product in the country next to its flagship brand, umami seasoning Ajinomoto.

In my household, Crispy Fry has become a must-have item that is used to make different kinds of dishes — not just chicken — crispy and crunchy.

It’s used to make tilapia fish, pork chops, and other meats and food crispy or crispier — similar to how Jollibee makes its Chicken Joy. 

As netizen Sam Alcala said on Ajinomoto Philippines’ Cookmunity Facebook page, “Lagi namin gamit sa kahit anong pritong ulam para mas sumarap pa!” (We always use it for any fried dish to make it more delicious!)

It’s the Chicken Joy-loving young kids who are driving parents to make this a regular household item. 

Ozaki said that in Southeast Asia, Ajinomoto’s number one market is Thailand, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam. The Philippines is the company’s fourth biggest market. Why only 4th when the Philippine population is bigger than Thailand’s and Vietnam’s? 

“We only have only 2 top brands here, MSG umami and Crispy Fry,” Ozaki said, explaining the importance of the breading mix in their product offerings in the Philippines. “In Thailand, we have 5 top brands so it [the number of popular brands] contributes to business size; Indonesia, 4 top brands; Vietnam 3.” 

The Pinoy fried chicken

Just as how Filipinos have “Filipinized” spaghetti by making it sweet like the way it’s done in Jollibee and in many households, it seems that we should truly push the case for Pinoy fried chicken. And the differentiation from other fried chicken is in its crispiness or, in Ajinomoto’s words, the “crispy perfection.”

Ajinomoto Philippines makes a sales pitch for Crispy Fry during National Fried Chicken Day every 6th of July, and describes how Filipinos like their fried chicken: “crispy, golden, and delicious.” 

“Although there is no curated historical information how fried chicken really started in the Philippines, it is undeniable that fried chicken is one of Filipinos’ comfort food, loved by kids and the kids at heart,” Ajinomoto Philippines says. 

And, it seems Pinoy fried chicken a la Jollibee Chicken Joy, will continue to rise as the Jollibee Group pursues its plan to be one of the top 5 food companies in the world. 

Though it may seem that Filipinos are the ones patronizing Jollibee stores abroad, that’s not what Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is seeing on the ground. 

In a press statement, JFC said it is winning the hearts of other nationalities, too.

“The brand’s continuous effort to build relevance and resonance with local customers has resulted in strong local patronage across all Southeast Asian markets. In Vietnam, for example, where Jollibee now operates over 200 stores, nearly all customers are Vietnamese. In Brunei, Jollibee has established a leading position as the market leader in the QSR (Quick Serve Restaurants) category, with virtually all customers also being local Bruneians. The brand is also experiencing strong community patronage in Singapore and Malaysia, where the majority of its consumers are locals,” said JFC in a release on May 20.

“Another key driver of Jollibee’s success in the region is the taste superiority of its products, especially the brand’s world-famous Chickenjoy fried chicken — recognized by global platforms such as USA Today as the ‘Best Fried Chicken’ and lauded by renowned publications including Eater.com, Yahoo!, and South China Morning Post,” it added. (USA Today’s ranking was in 2024, Eater.com’s was in 2022, South China Morning Post’s was in 2017.)

“The brand’s Spicy Chickenjoy is also continuing to make waves, with many local consumers in Singapore and Malaysia praising its uniquely spicy kick compared to the competition,” said JFC.

In its latest Investors’ Focus Points presentation, JFC cited Brand Finance’s latest Restaurants 25 2025 ranking report: “Jollibee (brand value up 8% to US$2.5  billion), ranked 17th globally, has made an impressive mark by maintaining its presence in the global rankings for ten consecutive years since 2016.”

JFC also noted Chef Joshua Weissman’s (a chef with 10 million social media followers) recent video which ranked Jollibee Chicken Joy number one in America, beating American multinational food giants’ Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and McDonald’s fried chicken.

It’s unfortunate that Pinoy fried chicken has not been recognized as a unique Philippine dish. 

Online food resource Taste of Atlas, for instance, has no listing for Pinoy Fried Chicken. 

But perhaps, it’s time for the Philippines and its people to make a case that there is a Pinoy fried chicken. Just as the Japanese have their Karaage, the Korean’s have their Chikin (Korean chicken), the Chinese have their Orange Chicken, the Taiwanese have their Popcorn Chicken, the Indonesians have their Ayam Goreng, and the Thais have their Fried Chicken.

Pinoy fried chicken a la Jollibee Chicken Joy should be promoted as a distinct Philippine dish, just as sweet spaghetti has become known as Pinoy spaghetti. 

As the late renowned food writer and critic Doreen Fernandez said in her book, Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture, Filipino food “naturally changes and expands in its interaction with foreign food,” and that Filipino food is thus the “assimilation of these foods…in which tastes are adjusted to the Filipino palate.” – Rappler.com