Patricia Jacinto is the Director for Operations at Foodpanda Philippines. Before Foodpanda, she was Managing Director of GoGo Xpress at QuadX.

👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes once you've placed an order for food through Foodpanda? How it gets picked up and delivered at your door at the promised delivery time in good quality?

I make sure that Foodpanda is able to do this, so that we delight our customers — restaurants and vendors, buyers and riders — every day!

🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I would call myself an extreme extrovert as I have a lot of energy to share! People are often surprised to find out that I am from supply chain and operations. I guess I don't typically fall into the mold of what people believe we should be like in this field and role.

That's a misconception I make sure I correct. Operations, supply chain and all the ups and downs it comes with is an amazing field. It's one that women and men of all types can enjoy and grow in!

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🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Making the decision to ride the online commerce wave in the Philippines back in 2017, where a lot of my work since then has been focused on enabling e-commerce growth around the country through building the right teams, discovering the right infrastructure to support fast-paced growth, and collaborating with industry players and leaders to make sure we work together to continue to grow the industry!

This became even more relevant when the pandemic started. Abrupt changes happened with consumer behavior as countries started locking down, and we saw exponential growth on platforms for online commerce. Our jobs became even more relevant to make sure we could help our sellers, vendors, and restaurants keep their businesses open. At the same time, we made sure consumers stayed home and stayed safe. Operations and riders played a big role in making that model work during lockdowns. We continue to celebrate them for this!

🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

Quick commerce and the rise of grocery fulfillment in the Philippines! Foodpanda has entered this fast-growing space! We see more users trying this out and breaking their old behavior of wanting to see grocery items before purchasing them.

💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

This is a young industry. There's a lot of room for growth and innovation. Don't rely too much on what people have done in the past. Oftentimes, you can redefine this and do it better!

🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Our riders and fleet and what we can do for them!

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Any true crime documentary (I've watched all of the Netflix ones), Witcher and Sex and the City!

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Cookie dough!