10 memorable experiences in building Turks

Gem Zenarosa, president and CEO of Turks, never thought he would one day have a business of his own simply because he didn’t have the capital to start one. When Gem married his childhood sweetheart, Angel, he was juggling different jobs — including buying and selling cars to provide for his family.

Angel was then at home and she wanted to do something to keep her busy, so she and Gem decided to sell the car that was given to her by her dad for her graduation. From the proceeds of the sale of the car, they thought of putting up a small shawarma cart just outside their village.

Their plans took a turn when Gem decided to put all their savings into opening their very first Turks branch back in 2007 at the SM Sta Mesa mall. When asked who or what gave him the idea of putting up Turks, his reply was, “Whenever I make a decision, I pray and work hard for it. When we sold the car, it was as if it was our last chance and our last money. I prayed to God to help and guide me. After that, I decided to splurge on the shawarma business within a shopping mall right away because I was confident of God’s grace and guidance. And the rest is history.”

Gem shares with us that his supportive family and staff continue to inspire him to dream big and be successful. He is grateful to God because Turks became the bread and butter of so many people, including his family.

Gem’s future dream for Turks is to expand and be recognized as one of the best fast-food businesses globally that provides quality food and excellent customer service. For him, there is no secret to success. It is simply working hard and surrendering one’s plans and decisions to God paired with a competent team. Part of his plans is to put up Turks in the US and Hong Kong to bring it closer to our kababayans.

Angel, Gem and daughter Thea Zenarosa.

After 17 years, 650 branches all over the country and their first drive-through (along White Plains, Quezon City), Gem shares with us his memorable experiences in building Turks.

1. Back in 2007 when I started the business, it was very difficult. We had very limited capital to start a business. We had to sell the only car we had, which was a gift of my father-in-law to my wife after graduating from college.

2. Running a business with limited capital wasn’t a walk in the park. We had to do everything ourselves — from being a marketer down to being store crew, while my wife would do the cashiering.

3. I remember back then, my wife would collect the daily sales of each of our stores and she would count all the bills and coins on the floor of our house. She would do the sales report and manage our finances. We didn’t have our office back then.

4. I had to stay up late to prepare our meat to be used the following morning and wake up as early as 3 a.m. to go to Balintawak market to buy produce and deliver it to each store.

5. My wife and I were both in the store doing the operations with our baby in a stroller in one corner of the store. It was very challenging during those times.

6. It was also memorable for me when SM challenged us to expand our menu and convert our cart into a bigger area like a food stall. It was challenging because my concept was just a cart and I only had a few (items) on my menu, I didn’t know how to expand the menu. How would I maximize? Now I realize it was a positive setback; it was an opportunity for me to grow the business.

The first Turks drive-through opened in September 2022.

7. The moment when we finally had a contract with Mr. Piolo Pascual as our brand ambassador was overwhelming. We were all over TV commercials, billboards, print and social media platforms. It was the first time we actually pushed our marketing.

8. I also recall back in 2016, there were days we were opening three branches in one day. And I was getting upset that there were only few people left in our office, they were all in fieldwork opening a branch. Then I had to add more and more people to cope with the rapid expansion.

9. From adding more people, I also had to expand our commissary to cope with the massive demand. There were moments back then when I ran out of supplies because we failed to anticipate more than what was projected.

10. It is also memorable and noteworthy to mention the opening of our first-ever drive-through store. It is because we did it despite the pandemic when most, if not all businesses, suffered.

(We welcome your suggestions and comments. Please e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @monsromulo.)