The Humble Beginnings of Lim Ket Kai
In the early part of the 20th century, a young Mr. Lim Ket Kai, at the age of 12, together with his father, emigrated from Quemoy, China and landed in the old town of Cagayan de Misamis, in the then frontier island of Mindanao, Philippines.
As a poor immigrant, Mr. Lim Ket Kai struggled and worked as a helper for a businessman-relative while pursuing his studies at the Cagayan de Oro Central School. His perseverance, coupled with hard work and frugality, soon paid off. He was able to save his wages that served as the seed money for his small neighborhood store that would later become the landmark homegrown business, the Limketkai Rice and Corn Mill of Cagayan de Oro.
When he was in his twenties, Mr. Lim Ket Kai went back to Quemoy and married Ms. Rosario Uy. The couple traveled back to Cagayan to settle in their new home along Gomez Street which still stands to this day. With the whole-hearted support of his wife, Rosario, Mr. Lim Ket Kai continued his small neighborhood sari-sari store, which later progressed into rice milling operations.
Mr. Lim Ket Kai was very kind and appreciative of the province and the people that embraced him and his wife as their own when they migrated to Cagayan. When World War II broke out and disrupted their family business, Mr Lim Ket Kai joined the guerilla forces in Northern Mindanao to fight against the Imperial Japanese Army. When he was caught and jailed, the Filipinos whom he had helped in the past helped him to be released and escape from prison.
This family business soon resumed after the war, and expanded to corn milling which later became the biggest corn miller in the country.
Mr Lim Ket Kai was a disciplinarian who taught his children the value of hard work and starting from the bottom. When his children were still studying, those who went to Manila to pursue college education (Macrobio, Alfonso, Albino and Benito) were only given sufficient allowance and pocket money to survive in Manila on their own while they stayed in dormitories.
According to Alfonso, if he committed mistakes in business he would be humiliated and reprimanded to remember not to repeat the same mistake. But when any of his children did well, their Father rewarded them accordingly. Lim Ket Kai focused on mentoring Florentino and Alfonso into running the business they started.
In recognition of the company’s contribution to the upliftment of the corn farmers in Northern Mindanao, the Company was accorded in 1976 the distinction as the “Most Outstanding Corn Miller” by the Confederation of Filipino Rice and Corn Association of the Philippines from among the 2,921 corn millers nationwide .
In 1966, the Company was incorporated by Mr. Lim’s children into a family corporation. It has successfully developed into a fully integrated manufacturing operation with the following line of businesses: Corn Grits Mill, Corn Flour Mill, Feed Mill, Corn Oil Extraction Plant and Refinery, Coconut Oil Mill and Refinery.
The manufacturing operation has been supported by the corn farm, a grain post-harvest drying facility, silo storage and a deep sea berthing facility, as well as the well-developed nationwide distribution network. The manufacture of corn grits products carrying the MARCA LEON brand are supplied to breakfast cereal, snack food, poultry/hog feeds and beer manufacturers. Corn grits are also sold as staple food for human consumption in the Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao. The Company is acknowledged as the leader in these industries.
On the heels of the stable economic growth of the country, the family business ventured into the export and trading of copra – which also paved the way for the Company to venture into edible oil manufacturing for the production of refined coconut oil and corn oil. The company that came about from Lim Ket Kai’s original corn and cereals trading business was later incorporated as the Limketkai Sons Milling, Inc. – which was mainly focused on the Edible Oil and cereals manufacturing business. The company eventually became the country’s largest manufacturer of corn oil and coconut oil under the trade marks MARCA LEON and FRITO PLUS brands, respectively, and are considered as leading brands in the country today.
Because of Mr Lim Ket Kai’s charming and approachable nature, he became popular in Cagayan de Oro and was even prodded by the Kagay-anons to become a governor, and was known to be a philanthropist. He built many school houses in Misamis Oriental and granted scholarships to indigent pupils. He was also at the forefront of rescue and assistance efforts during calamities.
Mr. Lim Ket Kai was once quoted to have said, “China is my motherland; Philippines is my fatherland,”
In the late 1980s the Company expanded into the real estate business by acquiring a 30-hectare prime property in Cagayan de Oro City, which was then developed into a first-class commercial complex called the ‘Limketkai Center’. The Limketkai Center includes the Limketkai Mall, considered the premier shopping mecca of Northern Mindanao, opened its doors to the public in 1991.
The mall is a modern, fully integrated commercial center with over 300 tenants. It houses various internationally and nationally recognized specialty shops, two supermarkets, two department stores, a food court, an amusement center and fast-food restaurant chains such as McDonald’s, Shakey’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, KFC, Mr. Donut, Jollibee, Chowking and Greenwich, among many others.
The company’s articles of incorporation was amended so that the primary purpose of the company was expanded, which eventually led to the spin-off of the edible oil manufacturing business to Limketkai Manufacturing Corporation in September 18, 2000 and renaming the company to Limketkai Sons, Inc. which now functions as the holding company owning shares in all of its subsidiaries: LMC, LDC, LHRC, etc.
Because of Limketkai Center’s bold development initiatives and its catalytic role in orchestrating investments into the city, the Company was honored in 1992 by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as ‘The Outstanding Countryside Investor of the Year for Large Scale Industries.’
In its desire to contribute further to the economic growth and prosperity of Cagayan de Oro City, LKKS is now pursuing the full implementation of the Company’s Master Development Plan to upgrade Limketkai Center into a full-fledged Central Business District of Cagayan de Oro City.
At the passing of Mr. Lim Ket Kai in 1972 and his wife Rosario in 2004, both were accorded the prestige and honor of being laid-in-state at the Provincial Capitol of the Province of Misamis Oriental and at the City Hall of Cagayan de Oro, respectively, in recognition of their invaluable contributions of both the city and province.
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