Jollibee Foods Corporation announced that it will establish a 50/50 joint venture with Yoshinoya International Philippines to operate and expand the Yoshinoya brand in the country.
Yoshinoya is a beef bowl business based in Japan and one of the largest and most recognized Japanese restaurant brands globally, with over 2,000 stores worldwide.
The joint venture, which will be the franchisee for Yoshinoya in the Philippines, plans to open 50 stores in the country in the long-term.
“We are very pleased to enter this joint venture with the largest foodservice company in the Philippines. Jollibee will certainly have a significant positive impact on Yoshinoya’s business in the country, with its extensive consumer knowledge, operational focus, and presence in the Philippines,” said Yasutaka Kawamura, CEO & President of Yoshinoya Holdings.
Jollibee Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong said JFC will benefit from Yoshinoya’s experience and know-how in Japanese cuisine.
The Philippines remains JFC’s most important market and Yoshinoya will be a strong addition to our presence in the country. I am confident that this is the beginning of a long-term and much larger partnership,” he stressed.
Jollibee operates the largest foodservice and restaurant company in the Philippines with five wholly-owned brands – Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal – which are market leaders in their respective segments.
Yoshinoya is JFC’s first ever Japanese food chain. The Yoshinoya brand will be a strong addition to the foreign franchised brands currently being operated by JFC in the Philippines, namely: Burger King (with 98 stores), PHO 24 (1 store) and Panda Express (1 store). These brands contribute 3.5% to the Philippine business’ systemwide sales.
Jollibee earlier announced plans to open more than 400 stores worldwide following a pandemic-hit 2020 that dragged sales and revenues to decline by double digits.
Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said most of the planned 400 new stores will be outside of the Philippines, particularly in North America, Vietnam, and China.
“We aim for very strong sales and profit recovery in 2021 versus 2020. In 2021 and the years ahead, JFC’s sales and profit growth will be driven by its international business. We believe that out of this pandemic, we will merge as a stronger business and organisation,” Tanmantiong said. – BusinessNews.ph
