The Leader: February 2015

Jollibee Foods Corp. is looking at bringing its namesake brand to Japan as part of an aggressive expansion program that now covers Asia and the United States amid the diversified fast food chain's ambition to be a global quick-service restaurant, a ranking official said Friday.

The company has been getting invitations and suggestions to set foot on Japan, CFO Ysmael Baysa revealed to reporters on the sidelines of the 2nd International Symposium on Service Industry organized by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Makati City.

"We already have presence in Japan with Pho24. But for the Jollibee brand, we're still studying it," he said.

"We want to see what can we offer the Japanese, whether they will like our food. You see, in Japan it's very competitive," Baysa noted.

In 2011, Jollibee formed a 50-50 joint venture with SuperFoods Group to operate Highlands Coffee and Pho24.

However, it may take some time before Jollibee formally enters the Japanese market in view of other expansion possibilities, the Jollibee official clarified.

"We have so many other opportunities. There's China, US," he said.

Last June, Jollibee said it wants to grow its US presence by acquiring a quick-service restaurant to take advantage of the strong demand from American consumers. The company is also keeping an eye on China because of the enormity of its consumer market.

'Large in ASEAN'

In August, Jollibee officials said they aim to bring various brands to Malaysia and Indonesia in light of the 2015 ASEAN single market.

By 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) sets in motion the creation of a single market spanning the 10-nation bloc.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

So far, Jollibee has stores in Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei.

Jollibee's growing presence in ASEAN markets will help the company penetrate Japan's market, JETRO director-in-charge of service industry Hironobu Kitagawa said in a separate interview.

"Jollibee company is a large-scale company in Philippines, but Japanese do not know Jollibee because it has not accessed the Japanese market," he said.

"But now, we know Jollibee is large in ASEAN market," he added, noting, if only Japanese companies have an idea about the Philippine company, new partnerships, new business opportunities can be established even in the Philippines

Source: Jollibee keeps Japan in crosshairs of future expansion