Hen Lin started with humble beginnings 37 years ago in 1983. It began with a small retail store in BF Homes, Parañaque City.
With their savings of Php30,000, Mariano “Jun” S. Manas, Jr. founded Hen Lin with the inspiration and help from his wife, Aracelli “Cely” H. Manas. At that time, Jun was a senior insurance executive in a large conglomerate in the Philippines, while Cely was a Manager who was among the pioneers of the computer department of the large bank.
Fulfillment of a childhood dream
The idea of catering and retailing Chinese dim sums was broached to Jun by a Filipino Chinese friend of hos, whose family owned a landmark Chinese restaurant in Binondo, Manila. Jun also had always wanted to have his own noodle shop because of his craving for “mami and siopao or siomai” during his student days. So, when the opportunity to lease a store space presented itself to Jun, he decided to pursue his friend’s idea.
First thing he did of course, was to assess the potential market for the products and to come up with a brand name. After deliberations with his wife and children, they all decided on the business name “Hen Lin” combining the first syllables of the names of their youngest son, Henry and their only daughter, Lynne.
“It was a beautiful acronym, Chinese sounding, and easy to remember. At the same time, it could somehow mean ‘neighborly’ or ‘good neighbor’ in Chinese,” recalls Manas.
Launching the business
Initially, the products Hen Lin sold were supplied from the restaurant of Jun’s friend. Every now and then, Jun and his wife would pick up the products from Binondo and take them to Parañaque. One can only imagine the hassles and challenges they had to face doing this chore – but through perseverance and determination, Jun and his wife managed to cope with the hard work.
When SM opened its first supermarket in Makati, Hen Lin was able to get a store space. Their products were selling very well and business was brisk. But this created the problem of getting constant supply of products from Binondo so much so that Jun and his wife eventually had to learn and produce their own products themselves.
Innovating Hen Lin’s menu items
With the help of a HongKong chef friend of Jun, they learned authentic Chinese recipes and procedures in the preparation and cooking of their products. They also attended cooking lessons during weekends and observed restaurants whenever they traveled overseas. They kept experimenting and experimenting on new food items, as well as improving the existing ones to the satisfaction of their customers.
While Jun and his wife, Cely, were busy starting and growing their business, they practiced due diligence and proper time management as they never used the company time of their employers, nor did they allow this to interfere with their official duties in their employment.
Multi-million peso enterprise
Fast forward to today, Hen Lin is now a multi-million peso enterprise. It has a modern commissary using state-of-the-art food processing equipment and machineries including blast freezers, automatic encrusters, and more. It is triple A (AAA) certified for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and is HACCP certified for compliance with international standards for safety and hygiene. It is also HALAL certified.
Hen Lin, from the very start and up to now, uses only highly selected raw materials and genuine ingredients in the preparation and cooking of its products. This ensures the fine dining quality and taste of its products.
International recognition
Hen Lin has been given recognition through various awards accorded to Jun Manas, among which are: the AGORA AWARD from the Philippine Marketing Association; the MVP BOSSING AWARD given by the PLDT; and the ENTREPRENEUR OF THE PHILIPPINES AWARD given by Ernst and Young (SGV).
In the Philippines, Hen Lin has more than 200 franchised and company-owned outlets. Recently, Hen Lin has opened 2 outlets and will open more in the UAE through a franchise arrangement with Kasamar Holdings, a respectable and reputable business group based in the UAE.
“So far, the response of customers, Filipinos and other nationals, in these two outlets has been very good and very encouraging. Our OFWs can expect more Hen Lin stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi very soon more likely in locations where they abound,” said Philip Vasquez, Operations Manager at Kasamar Holdings.
Jun, Cely, and their family are so happy and gratified that through Hen Lin, the ordinary Filipino is able to have a taste of authentic and flavorful dim sums at affordable prices. A loyal Hen Lin customer was overheard saying “Hen Lin started the siomai fever in Manila,” and this is very elating to them.
“To our Kababayans in the UAE who have not yet tasted Hen Lin, please try and discover us and see if you will agree with our tagline, ‘Iba pa rin ang sarap Hen Lin’,” said Manas.
