Jollibee targets 500 stores in the US in next 7 years

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the Philippines most successful fast food chain with presence in major global markets, expects to achieve 500 Jollibee stores in the US market alone over the next five to seven years.

JFC President & CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong revealed this goal at the virtual Philippines-US Make It Happen In the Philippines Business Dialogue citing how successful Jollibee has been in the US market.

Tanmantiong attributed its success in the US to the Filipino diaspora stressing the strong Filipino community serves as its brand ambassadors in the US.

“Because of that they're able to convince local mainstream markets to visit our stores and enjoy our products. We also invested a lot in our people to develop the culture of excellent customer service consistently,” he said.

Through partnerships with its suppliers in the US, Tanmantiong said Jollibee was also able to penetrate, not only cater to Filipinos in the US but also started to cross over to mainstream markets, resulting in growth year after year.

To date, there are 100 Jollibee stores in the US. Tanmantiong said they are targetting to achieve 500 stores in the next five to seven years.

Overall, JFC has over 500 stores in the US across its six brands including Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Smashburger, Tortazo, Jollibee, Chowking and Red Ribbon. Recently, the company successfully launched Panda Express.

“Our US business has the most number of JFC brands and stores outside the Philippines,” said Tanmantiong.

For 2021, Tanmantiong said they look forward to open 15 restaurants in the US and at least 15 new Burger King and Panda Express branches in the Philippines to achieve its vision to become among the top five restaurant companies in the world.