♪ haslinda: hello. i am haslinda amin in singapore. the philippines in 1983, a high-profile assassination, a dollar crisis, a ban on imports, and the beginnings of a revolution that would lead to the downfall of ferdinand marcos. they were life-changing times for chris po, son of the country's tuna king, now chairman and ceo of century pacific food. christopher po is today's high flyer.

he is part of one of the most famous families in the philippines. at the helm of a canned food empire worth $1.5 billion, chris po is the third of four brothers, sons of ricardo, a chinese immigrant who built century pacific food from nothing. harvard educated, chris po cut his teeth in the finance industry before the call came to run the family business. he expanded, diversified into meat, dairy, and other businesses. he took the company public in 2014 and grew profits more than 60%. an intensely private man, chris po agreed to this rare interview. ♪

haslinda: christopher po, welcome to "high flyers." chris: thank you for having me. haslinda: your dad is known fondly as the tuna king in the philippines. the beginnings were pretty humble. he was a migrant who fled the conflict in china and started with nothing in the philippines. take us through how it all began. chris: they were fleeing the war in china. he landed in the philippines in his early teens with my grandmother, and so the story goes he only knew three words of the english language at that point in time -- a, b, and c. [laughter] basically, he had to support my grandmother. they were supporting each other. so he took up this job of

translating -- a translation job for the chinese newspaper, translating the news into english. so he basically taught himself english using -- he bought a dictionary and then, word for word, started translating, and over time learned english. from there, became a journalist. he followed the political beat and eventually also followed the number of business personalities. and i guess, through that, made a number of contacts. so from a journalist -- this is the entrepreneurial part of him. he became an advertising man. he set up an advertising agency using his business and political contacts. at that time, there were a number of up-and-coming businesses that were basically leading chinatown into the mainstream. those were his first clients.

as the story goes, again, the sm group, the sm logo, he claims that he was the designer of that. and then he became a stockbroker. so kind of, sort of jack of all trades, jumping from one thing to the other. and did well for a while, until the oil crisis of 1973 came, and basically lost everything and was actually negative. eventually stumbled on manufacturing and saw the philippines had this supply of competitive labor. and then sort of put demand and supply together, and that's how the tuna business was started. haslinda: few people at the time knew the concept of canned tuna. it was quite a foreign concept, and it was marketing that helped introduce the whole concept to the filipinos. chris: he got his start in food manufacturing, tuna, because there was a shortage in the

developed markets, markets like the u.s. and europe. at that point in time, the production base was japan and taiwan. and with labor costs -- this was in the 1970's -- when labor costs were going up, the industry was looking for a new manufacturing base. the philippines, because of access to raw materials and labor, was the natural place to do it. haslinda: how involved were you in the family business when you were a kid, a young boy? what did you learn? chris: had a front row seat. going through the ups and downs. what did i learn? basically, my father is a role model for working hard. haslinda: you were pretty hands-on, as well. during school holidays, you were involved in running the business. chris: sure. there was very little boundaries between his work life and his family life. it was all intermingled. so whatever was going on at the company, we knew.

we would talk about it over dinner. we would talk about it whenever we were together, what was going on in the company. in hindsight, that was great training. he talked about his high points and low points. yeah, i wish i had spent more time polishing up my tennis game, but during summers, i worked in the sardine line. still have horrible memories of, as a preteen, putting in eight to 10 hours. i think there are probably laws against that now, today, but i was there, in the manufacturing line. i worked in the warehouse, sort of stacking boxes. then went around with the van selling team. in the philippines, we have these mom-and-pop stores, so i

spent the summer doing that. haslinda: at that time, you had no intention of running the family business -- is that true? chris: well, i have three other siblings. haslinda: you are number three. chris: i am number three of four brothers. i guess we never talked about it, but the expectation was the older brothers would take more of the heavy lifting, so there was a point when i thought i would try to do something on my own, whether it's in business or going through the corporate route. that's why i -- haslinda: you were with mckinsey, a management consultant. you were with jg summit, as well as guggenheim. so you did a fair bit of work outside the family business, so what happened? chris: this is all really good experiences for me, but this is all trying to figure out also where i fit in the world at that

point in time. haslinda: but when you are with guggenheim one day, you received a call. chris: you are right. i was sitting in my office in exchange square, and the phone rang. i was asked to attend a family meeting, where, at that point, the business was going through a sort of intergenerational transfer of management control. at least we were planning that. and then -- when all the dust settled, they asked me to be the one to lead the company -- at least give me the title. haslinda: why do you think you are the chosen one? chris: the chosen one -- the son who comes with a lot of baggage. [laughter] i suppose matching -- i have three other brothers. so we are four siblings. each of us would have our own strengths and weaknesses, so i guess the family just sort of arrived at a decision that there were certain things the company

needed at that time where maybe i had some of those things, and that is how it happened. ♪ chris: a friend of mine wrote a book called "been there, bungled that." every possible mistake was an educational experience. whenever there is a setback, just keep going forward. ♪

♪ haslinda: now, chris, it all started with a $2 million loan, 11 workers, and 20 tons of tuna. now, it is an empire valued in excess of $1.5 billion. what do you think has contributed to the tremendous success of the company? chris: a friend of mine wrote a book called "been there, bungled that." [laughter] so it was an interesting journey. i was seven years old or eight years old when it started with

20 tons and 11 workers, whatever it is. every possible mistake was an educational experience, at least for the family. and i guess, collectively, now, we sort of bring it with us today. and it is just -- whenever there is a setback, just keep going forward. my father is a role model for hard work and enterprising, entrepreneurial spirit, so there is always this motivation to keep going forward, doing something new. he would always say, you know, you should always have at least five different new projects in your drawer and be ready to bring it out when you have time to do it, so there is that mindset of always pushing forward, doing something new. i think that, along the way, we made a lot of mistakes, but we are better for it today. haslinda: is there one mistake that comes to mind? chris: i would say it is a series of things. i think the most painful ones

would be the ones that involve people, people you trust, people that are supposed to do a certain thing, and then they kind of fail you and conceal it. there have been a few of those. but we have not lost faith. today, it is a cliche when you say that a company is only as good as the people in the company, but i completely believe it. human capital is the most important kind of capital and most important kind of resource. finding that having the right people with the right beliefs, the right values -- obviously marry that to the right sort of experience and capability makes all the difference. allows me, for example, who has multiple responsibilities, to leverage my time a lot, so this company was not built by one individual, but by a team of

people. haslinda: it started with tuna, but it has diversified. you are into meat, other forms of food as well. tell us the thinking behind the diversification of the company. chris: sure. the company was founded more than 40 years ago -- about 40 years ago -- by my father. and at that point in time, there was a shortage of tuna in the developed markets, so we had the raw material. in the philippines, we have our competitive labor in the country. and so he started off as a purely export-oriented company. haslinda: exporting to the u.s., germany. chris: yeah, the big brands and the retailers in the u.s., europe, germany, japan, etc. and then came -- they say that, in crisis, there are opportunities. so then came the assassination

of our previous president aquino's father, and there was a dollar shortage. previous to that, we would import -- the philippines would import our canned products, especially sardines, which was a staple. there was a vacuum in the market, and we were in fish manufacturing, so at that point in time, the business saw the opportunity, and instead of exporting and selling to the local markets, that forced us to develop our distribution infrastructure. so over the course -- that was during 1983, when we had that import ban, the dollar crisis, and for a stretch of about five years, we were just kind of developing the distribution infrastructure, building the relationships with retailers, wholesalers. and after that, we figured, you know what, we had this pipeline into the market now.

we should add on more categories, spread out the cost, help us diversify a little bit. it was at that point in time when my father, who was still very active -- basically pioneered the tuna category in the philippines. so did that for a few years, been later on realized there is still more capacity within our distribution system, so got into the meat business. shortly after that, became market leader, and then got into the dairy business as well. it was that distribution infrastructure where today we recently acquired the the hunt's brand, the hunt's license, in the philippines. conagra brands. getting into another vertical. so finding other items, grocery items that are adjacent to our existing categories. haslinda: is it fair to say you are looking for more acquisitions to further expand your reach? chris: yeah, so acquisitions is

definitely part of our toolkit, when we think about what is next and how we grow. haslinda: what is next? chris: what is next? a lot of things are happening. our dairy business is growing. haslinda: are you going to do coconut water? shakey's pizza? chris: yeah. so all of this, i think, is because we believe in the consumer story in the philippines. we have a large, young, and happy population. right? and the philippines gdp is around 3000 gdp per capita now, so that is sort of the inflection point, economists tell us we should see a growth spurt and consumer behavior changes and becomes more sophisticated. we are very excited about that. we are in the last few years where the philippines has been growing, and it is consumer driven, so most of our

businesses are hinged on the philippine consumer, and we are looking for to the growth of the middle class. so that is sort of how we are positioning ourselves. ♪ chris: i think a lot of family businesses where they falter is when there is no harmony in the family, and we have taken a lot of effort, making sure we are always aligned and have each other's backs. ♪

♪ haslinda: so, chris, four boys in the family. what was it like growing up? chris: it was fun. it was fun. my youngest brother -- i still say that -- he is bigger than me -- is seven years younger.

he just turned 40. so i am seven years older, so there is a bit of a gap. no, it is great. we think alike, because we are very close. that shared experience, i think we carried it today, the way we work together. we complement each other. i have one other brother who is very active in the management of century. that would be ted. and my older brother ricardo is active in shakey's. and leo, our youngest brother, is very hands-on in the real estate business, so we each have our own character, strengths, and weaknesses, and we have each other's backs. so i think being able to grow up together and have that shared experience and common values is very important in running a company. i think a lot of family

businesses, where they falter is when there is no harmony in the family, and there is an issue, and it is not resolved. we have taken a lot of effort making sure we are always aligned. in fact, worked with consultants to make sure that we always try to be on the same page. we have our family constitution. we have our family governance structures, to make sure issues are discussed and resolved. haslinda: has it been difficult stepping out of your dad's shadow? chris: so i rejoined the business 11 years ago and was given the title and the role. my father, at that point, was in his mid-70's, and he was ready to hand over the reins. and i don't see myself as kind

of the only one sitting in the driver's seat. i see my brothers -- we co-run the different businesses. and stepping out of the shadow -- there is a big shadow, but he was very ready to hand over the reins. basically empowered us, allowed us to make our own mistakes, so, yeah, i never really felt that i had something extra to prove, because he was very supportive. today, when we make decisions, rarely would he have a different opinion. he would ask questions, make sure that we, kind of, did our homework, but then 99% of the time, he would be fully supportive. haslinda: your dad has said before he is confident the next generation will take it to the next level. what is your vision for the company?

chris: i don't think my father has a choice. [laughter] he has to say that he is confident. he has already turned over -- given us the keys and said here, you drive it. the vision for the company, or basically the group of companies, we, as a group, we believe in the long-term growth story of the philippines. we have a -- haslinda: that is not to say you would not look to becoming a global company? chris: i think for the next five years, most of our investments will be in the philippines, in the branded space, because we have a passion for building and nurturing brands. and probably also very much in the consumer space, where brands like century, birch creek, shakey's companie, these are alr

brands, and we think we have some experience building and nurturing these types of businesses. so obviously we will have our kpi's, we have to make sure we are very efficient with how we are using our investors' capital. looking at a return on equity, mid-teens to low 20's types of return on equity. but where we think we have demonstrated some ability would be in the branded consumer space in the philippines. so that is the next five years. beyond that, if we are looking for growth, then absolutely we need to look outside of the philippines, and we have a certain affinity and understanding for asean or greater china. that is probably where we would look first.

haslinda: are you preparing the next generation? chris: absolutely. i am in my mid-40's. so this cohort -- 2g, or second-generation, we are in our 40's. our next generation, we are -- the eldest would be 26, and the youngest would be about to be born, actually. and i think i would be -- myself and my siblings would still be very active with the businesses for at least another 15 years, maybe longer, so, at this point in time, we would want to be able to recruit some of that next generation. there are 12 in 3g, third generation, and we would hope to be able to recruit maybe a handful to be involved as responsible owners. they may not necessarily have to be in management, but they need to understand the business, the culture, the dna of the company. haslinda: the po family is known

to be very low key. is that intentional? is that part of the company, and the family's, dna? chris: we follow our father's lead. he is a very low-key person. and then, yeah, there is a lot of work to do. and part of our, just, working habits or practices is just keep your head down and do the work, and then everything else follows. we celebrate more publicly our brands rather than personalities within the group, so that is sort of just a practice in the culture, and so far it has worked. so this is kind of an aberration. i don't do many interviews. [laughter] haslinda: i am honored. chris: well, i am honored. but yeah, we represent a couple of public companies. this is just part of the job description. haslinda: and on that note, christopher po, thank you for being on "high flyers." chris: thank you for having me. ♪ ♪

emily: they started the company in a windowless closet at a warehouse in san francisco. now, 12 years later, along with their cofounder, renaud visage, they have turned eventbrite into a global business. racking up $10 billion in ticket sales. for the first 10 years, kevin served as ceo. now, julia is in the chief executive office driving the company towards an ipo. joining me today on "bloomberg studio 1.0," eventbrite cofounders julia and kevin hartz.