Max’s Group, Inc. (MGI), the country’s largest casual dining chain, announced that its President Ariel P. Fermin has resigned effective Aug. 31, 2023 and the post will again be held by part-owner and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Trota.
Max's Group President Ariel P. Fermin
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said it is implementing “management changes to re-align its focus to its customers as it further stimulates growth across all its business units.”
With Trota as President and CEO, the business units of Max’s Restaurant, Yellow Cab Pizza Co., Pancake House, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Teriyaki Boy, Sizzlin’ Steak, Dencio’s, and manufacturing arm, No Bia, Inc. will report to him starting Aug. 31, 2023.
“Today’s announcement represents the continuing evolution of the business, relying on strengths we have developed and mastered throughout the years,” said Max’s Group Chairperson Sharon T. Fuentebella.
She added that, “Our course remains unaltered. The customer will always be at the center of what we do. Robert has over 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, and together with the Board and Management Team, we will ensure the Company’s goals are executed consistent with our Vision and Mission.”
“Finally, I would like to thank Ariel for his innumerable contributions to MGI. He led the Company through one of the most challenging periods of our time,” noted Fuentebella.
She said that, “Through his leadership, MGI not only beat the odds during the pandemic, but refined the model for our existing business and established new opportunities in a fast-growing food retail category.”
In December 2021, then Group Chief Operating Officer Fermin was appointed as MGI President and took over from Trota to take charge of the overall commercial and operational performance of MGI and its iconic brands.
Fermin has spent over three decades steering some of the world’s most distinguished companies across a diverse range of industries, elevating world-class brands, re-imagining businesses, and driving revolutionary transformation.
He first spent over 20 years in the corporate world working in multinational firms, after which he assumed executive roles in flagship Filipino companies.
With a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines, he started at Procter & Gamble as a management trainee and eventually rose to the role of R&D category head.
Fermin then moved on to Coca-Cola where he made a career shift to Marketing and helped the company open its doors to the production of non-carbonated beverages.
After this, he went on to become Sales & Marketing Director at Unilever Foods and was Nike’s Country General Manager—managing an entire company for the first time when he was just 37 years old.
Fermin later joined Jollibee Foods Corporation as President of Greenwich and Chowking, and the MVP Group of Companies as Executive Vice President and Head for Consumer Business at the height of its digital convergence.