Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), through its wholly owned subsidiary, Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL), is acquiring a 10 percent stake in automated coffee and tea dispenser firm Botrista Inc. for $28 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), JFC said it has signed agreements to invest in Botrista with JWPL as the lead investor.

Botrista, a leader in the beverage technology space, holds more than 100 patents globally for its proprietary dispense technology which provides automated solutions to serve cold specialty coffee and tea-based drinks with premium and all-natural ingredients.

Its efficient and easy-to-use automated system enables restaurant and food service operators to offer more drink options resulting in incremental revenues and higher same store sales growth, with minimal capital expenditures.

“JWPL’s investment in Botrista is a strong fit to JFC’s goal of growing its coffee and tea business. It will pave strategic access to innovative and sustainable platform & technology, creating gateway to tap the $3 trillion-worth total addressable market for beverages industry globally, by expanding distribution channels and providing consumers with healthier options,” Jollibee said.

It noted that “this gives JFC an opportunity to leverage Botrista’s technological capabilities, which will create significant learnings and synergies that will further enhance JFC’s competitive advantage.”

“Botrista is a game changer for the beverage industry. We are excited to invest in a company that creates excellent and innovative products enabling food service operators to deliver a world-class customer experience and providing a substantial runway for sustained profitable growth,” said JFC Chairman Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong.

He added that “we look forward to Botrista’s rapid and asset-light distribution and channel expansion that will create more value to its partners and ultimately, the end consumers.”

JFC, through JWPL will fund this investment using its current surplus cash. JFC has a strong cash flow from operations, and it remains committed to maintaining its capital allocation priorities that include investment in new and existing stores, commissaries, and technology.

The investment is expected to support Botrista’s market expansion activities outside the US, increase production capabilities and fund ingredient supply chain development and other R&D initiatives.

Botrista CEO Sean Hsu said, “we are delighted to have JFC as a partner. Our team is committed to winning in the marketplace and this partnership will help us continue investing in our technology to scale more quickly and further improve our innovative capabilities."

“We look forward to creating more opportunities both for Botrista and JFC to accelerate growth and deliver exceptional value to our customers,” he also said.

Botrista was founded by Hsu, an entrepreneur with more than 12 years of experience and an extensive background in robotics engineering, industrial engineering and process efficiency.

Prior to founding Botrista, he spent numerous years at Tesla as Head of Fluid Engineering in Battery and Manufacturing sector, where he built automation manufacturing lines at multiple factories, specializing in robotics and liquid dispensing process.

Hsu received multiple recognition for his technology leadership with the prestigious MIT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award, the Red Dot Design Award, and over twenty-five other product innovation honors.