Fast food chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. said Thursday it plans to quadruple its store network in China over the next five years.
Jollibee chief finance officer Richard Shin said in a virtual press briefing the group plans to achieve this target through franchising and venturing into more geographies in China.
Jollibee has three brands in China including Yonghe King, Tim Ho Wan and Hong Zhuang Yuan, with more than 300 stores.
Shin said the group is now in the position to accelerate the growth in China after it started opening stores in tier 1 and tier 2 cities.
“So, the ambition is to quadruple the footprint in five years. Going from 460 stores we are quadrupling that in five years through franchising in tier three and four and possibly five cities,” Shin said.
“So, the expansion that we’re going to witness in the next few years is really about getting into more geographies and the reason for that is the brand is perfect for that,” he said.
Jollibee said earlier it would focus on China, the United States and the Philippines for expansion and investment given the robust growth opportunities these areas offer.
Shin said the company would also grow its footprint in the US through franchising.
The Jollibee Group has 100 stores in North America and targets to increase this to 500 in the next five years.
Shin said the fast-food giant identified 30 cities in the US for expansion for its flagship brand Jollibee.
“So, we will start to fill in those 30 locations. Why? Because they have the highest disposable income as a percentage spent to our segment,” Shin said.
Jollibee targets to open 700 to 750 owned and franchised stores in 2024, 80 percent of which would be located overseas and 20 percent locally.0
Shin said a third of the new stores would be in the coffee and tea space and the balance would be skewed towards the chicken category.
Jollibee said its US brand Smashburger would not invest in new stores and would instead focus on expanding the brand through franchising.
