Restaurant operator Jollibee Foods Corp. expects the international business to drive sales and profit this year, as domestic operations are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic.
Jollibee president and chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong said during the annual stockholders’ meeting Friday most of the group’s foreign operations were reaching sales close to the pre-pandemic levels, especially in China, North America and the EMEAA, or Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia.
“With the positive outlook on China and United States, given their earlier recovery from the pandemic and with the Philippine recovery underway as restrictions are lifted and vaccinations rollout, we will accelerate store expansion,” Tanmantiong said.
The group plans to open 450 stores this year, 500 in 2022 and over 500 in the succeeding years.
“Our business outside the Philippines contributed 40 percent of total system-wide sales. But in the next three years, business overseas will contribute 50 percent, as we will be able to reach our goal of 50:50 business split by that time,” Tanmationg said.
He said Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Smashburger were expected to start contributing to the group’s profitability.
CBTL showed remarkable profit improvement, with the brand generating a small amount of operating profit in February and March this year. This was a significant improvement from its losses when Jollibee Group acquired it in the fourth quarter of 2019.
CBTL will focus on store expansion in Singapore and Malaysia and increase sales of current stores through better branding and marketing. CBTL also plans to expand through franchising in the US and other countries in 2022.
Smashburger posted higher sales and lower operating losses this year. The chain plans to open 25 new stores and renovate older outlets in 2021.
“The global crisis made more apparent the advantages of the geographical diversification of our business. We continued to invest for long-term growth even amid the pandemic in countries that presented opportunities,” Tanmantiong said.
The Jollibee group is one of Asia’s largest food service companies with 17 brands across 33 countries.