Look closely at Camryn Bynum’s thigh pads, and you can see the outline of a bee wearing a chef’s hat. It’s the logo for Jollibee, a popular fast-food restaurant in the Philippines.
“The No. 1 Filipino restaurant in the world,” Bynum clarified. “Jollibee is one of those ‘If you know, you know’ type of thing.”
The Jollibee is a fitting logo for Bynum, whose mother is Filipino. Bynum grew up an hour east of Anaheim in Corona, Calif., and the Minnesota Vikings drafted him out of Cal in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. However, he and his wife, Lalaine, live in the Philippines in the offseason.
Although the Mike Zimmer regime drafted Bynum, he has adapted to Brian Flores’ madcap defense. As a versatile player Flores trusts, he has earned a spot next to Harrison Smith. Bynum is affable off the field, but he roams around the secondary and hits players with devastating tackles on it.
In other words, he floats around the backfield and stings like a bee.
“I might steal that,” Bynum said with a chuckle, “and use that and make the Jollibee thing my alter ego.”
Tony Tan Caktiong and his family opened the first Jollibee in 1975, the same year Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in the Thrilla in Manila. Caktiong originally opened the chain as a Mongolian ice cream parlor in Quezon City, 25 minutes outside Manila.
Jollibee expanded to Singapore in 1985 and opened a franchise in Daly City, Calif., in 1998. In 2018, it expanded into Europe by opening a location in Milan, Italy. Jollibee has 270 international branches and operates over 1,500 stores in 17 countries. Caktiong has turned Jolibee into a global brand. Last year, Forbes listed him as the fifth-richest person in the Philippines.
“It’s basically how we have McDonald’s [in America],” explains Bynum. “Philippines has McDonald’s too, but Jollibee’s No. 1 out there.”
There’s a Jollibee on every corner in the Philippines. It withstood McDonald’s entrance into the market in 1981 by focusing on the specific tastes of the Filipino market.
Jollibee is popular among Filipino Americans. There aren’t any locations in Minnesota, but there are five Jollibees in Chicago. Dedicated families will drive six hours to Bloomingdale, Ill., outside Schaumberg, and reheat it when they return.
“That’s my goal eventually, to open one in Minnesota,” said Bynum, “but I’m not really that good of a businessman yet to do it.”
Jollibee offers lunch and dinner, but Bynum prefers their breakfast.
“I go for breakfast because I’m a breakfast person,” he said. “They have a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. It’s buns on the outside, and I put my syrup on it or some strawberry jelly, and it is amazing.”
Bynum may not have a Jollibee nearby during the season, but he’s made Minnesota his home away from home. Things came full circle during the San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday.
Last year, he picked off Brock Purdy to seal the upset over San Francisco on Monday Night Football. Then, in his postgame interview, he asked for help getting his wife a visa so she could come to the United States. Three weeks later, he handed her a ball he thought he had picked off in the New Orleans Saints game.
She’s already been to both of Minnesota’s games this year.
“She was able to be in at our first game last week against the Giants,” said Bynum after the 49ers game this year. “This is her first home opener, and it was against the Niners, so it was cool that she was able to come here and see us win because she missed it last year.”
It was a moment they earned through hard work. If only they could have driven to Bloomington, not Bloomingdale, to get some Jollibee to celebrate.
