Jollibee Foods, considered one of Asia’s largest fast-food chains, hopes to have half of its sales outside its home market of the Philippines in five to seven years, up from 30 percent now, its chief executive told Reuters.
The company also hopes to double its revenue inside five years by expanding its own chains and buying others, at a time when competition within the restaurant sector is intensifying and rising costs are driving consolidation.
Earlier this yr, Coca-Cola agreed to purchase Costa Coffee and JAB Holdings bought Pret a Manger, which Jollibee was also considering.
The company, which has a market value of greater than $5 billion, already has 4,300 stores under 14 brands in 20 countries. It operates Burger King within the Philippines, Dunkin Donuts in China and Highlands Coffee in Vietnam, and is almost all owner of Smashburger within the U.S. Expanding in China and the U.S. is essential, Tanmantiong said.
“We intend to replicate what we did in the Philippines by opening multiple brands in China and the U.S.,” Chief Executive Ernesto Tanmantiong said in an interview Thursday, ahead of the weekend opening of the primary British Jollibee fried chicken restaurant in London.
Last month, the corporate partnered with American chef Rick Bayless to create a Mexican restaurant chain.
China already accounts for 10 percent of the group’s sales, through Dunkin’ and two local brands. There are currently no Jollibee restaurants in China, where rival KFC is robust, but Tanmantiong sees its Hong Kong and Macau locations as a gateway to the mainland.
Over the subsequent five years, the Jollibee chain, which began as an ice cream shop in Manila, will expand to Europe, the United States and Asia.
A Manhattan Jollibee will open later this month, its second in New York City, followed by one other in Malaysia by the tip of the yr and one other in Indonesia by 2020.
Jollibee expects to open 50 stores in Europe over the subsequent five years, half of which might be within the UK.
“It has a large Filipino population there and there is a big market for fried chicken,” Tanmantiong said.
Jollibee has 41 stores in North America, most of that are within the United States. Within five years, it expects to grow that number to 150 within the U.S. and 100 in Canada.
The company plans to list its Vietnamese coffee business next summer, but Tanmantiong said none of its other businesses are currently ready for a stock exchange listing.
Source : South China Morning Post | Reuters Agency
