Not Just Music: Here're Jose Mari Chan's Businesses
Jose Mari Chan is, without a doubt, the king of Christmas. The septuagenarian has been serenading Filipinos with his Chirstmas carols for decades, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
But outside of his successful career as a singer and composer, Chan is also an astute businessman. Chan’s father actually started a sugar trading business in Bacolod, and while the Ilonggo hitmaker behind the immortal classic “Christmas in our Hearts” is best known today for his music, he never actually left business behind.
“Many people don’t know that music is just my hobby. I have a business. I’m in the sugar business,” he told ABS-CBN in 2019.
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In fact, after graduating with a degree in Economics from Ateneo De Manila University, Chan spent a decade in the United States to manage the family’s sugar business there.
After his father’s passing, Chan inherited the business, and he is now owner, CEO and president of Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar Company Inc. (BISCOM). BISCOM is located in Brgy. San Vicente, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, about 65 kilometers from Bacolod City. According to sources, BISCOM is one of the country’s top sugar producers, with a total sugarcane area of 28,725 hectares. It is responsible for about 8.64 percent of the total national sugar production.
Meanwhile, his A. Chan Sugar Corporation, based in Makati City, is also registered as a sugar trader.
Interestingly, Chan’s siblings own and manage their own sugar milling and trading business called Central Azucarera de San Antonio located in Passi City, Iloilo.
In addition, Chan has also dipped his toes into other businesses like real estate. The singer is the president of morning Glow Development Corp., whose portfolio includes Villa Florencia Subdivision, Residencia Remedios Subdivision, and Villa Magdalena Subdvision all in Bacolod City, and Princessville Subdvision in Jaro Iloilo. The company also developed the Villa Magdalena Commercial Center in Bacolod.
Clearly Chan isn’t just a master of songwriting, he’s also a master entrepreneur as well.
