Fruitas Holdings Inc., a leading food and beverage kiosk operator, acquired a property in Sasa, Davao City to support its aggressive expansion plan in Mindanao.
Fruitas said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday it would initially use the property in Davao as office and warehouse space.
The company said it had increased the number of stores in Mindanao as a percentage of total locations by 20 percent from the middle of 2019.
Fruitas reported it completed the acquisition of the assets of Heat Stroke Grill, with two outlets in the Fruitas food parks in Quezon City.
The acquisition is in line with the strategy of Fruitas for its food parks, viewing them as incubators for new concepts.
It plans to make Heat Stroke Grill as an anchor locator in the food parks or food courts it may operate in the future.
Fruitas said the recent acquisition was a key addition to its food portfolio, which would complement Sabroso Lechon and its rice meals concepts.
“Fruitas’ vision is to be ubiquitous in Filipinos’ lives and grilled food is an integral part of Filipinos’ daily diet, as evidenced by the proliferation of grilled food offerings in key commercial establishments,” the company said.
“Fruitas estimates that the top 3 players in this segment have more than 200 branches,” it added.
Fruitas has 1,068 stores and plans to expand the network to 2,000 outlets by 2023 using proceeds from recent initial public offering.
Fruitas, which was listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange in December, raised P1 billion from the maiden share offering.
Share price of Fruitas on Monday rose 2.2 percent to P1.40.
From a single Fruitas stall opened in 2002, the group now has over 1,000 stores across the country and more than 20 brands in its portfolio. These include well-loved food concepts Fruitas Fresh from Babot’s Farm, Buko Loco, Buko ni Fruitas, De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar, Johnn Lemon, Juice Avenue, Black Pearl, Friends Fries, The Mango Farm, 7,107 Halo Halo Islands, Shou Hand Pulled Noodles and Sabroso Lechon.