By CHINO S. LEYCO
CHICAGO, Illinois—Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) will continue to expand its footprint in North America in the coming years as the homegrown fast-food operator also receives warm reception from non-Filipino customers.
(Photo courtesy of Jollibee USA / MANILA BULLETIN)
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the Mexican restaurant chain Tortazo, Maribeth D. Dela Cruz, JFC North America–Philippine Brands president, said they plan to 25 more Jollibee locations and three Red Ribbon stores this year in the United States and Canada.
Since January, JFC has already inaugurated Jollibee locations in Chandler, Arizona; Maui, Hawaii; and Regina, Canada. The company is also set to open new stores in Houston and San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; and Toronto, Canada.
“It’s really exciting the way Filipinos have embraced whenever we open a store, but what we are finding right now is there is a lot of non-Filipinos who actually go to us,” Dela Cruz told reporters.
“We actually have locations where there are actually more non-Filipinos than Filipinos, like in Manhattan,” she added. “We’re really expanding.”
According to Dela Cruz, JFC’s target is to have a total 250 stores under the Jollibee, Red Ribbon and Chowking brands in North American by 2023. Of which, 150 will be in the US and 100 are in Canada.
To date, JFC operates 50 Jollibee locations in North America, 32 Red Ribbon stores and 15 branches under its Chowking brand.
Factors to consider in choosing new locations, Dela Cruz said “we first take a look at the demographics, like strong Filipino population, and then we look at the generators, so basically the day time population and the activities that are happening.”
Amid JFC’s aggressive expansion in North American, Dela Cruz said that California remains their largest market given the State’s huge population of Filipino-Americans estimated at more than 1.6 million.
Currently, JFC is operating in 12 US States with 22 stores in California alone.
The JFC official also said that Chickenjoy remains an American-Filipino customer favorite, followed by the peach mango pie and the sweet spaghetti.