A Jollibee mascot during a children's party at a Jollibee Foods Corp. restaurant in Quezon City, ... [+]
Jollibee Foods—controlled by billionaire Tony Tan Caktiong and his family—is targeting to triple its net profit within the next five years as the Philippines’ largest fast food chain steps up its global expansion binge.
Net profit climbed 16% to 8.8 billion pesos ($159 million) in 2023, bolstered by robust sales across its global store network, which increased 6.3% to 6,885 outlets, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Jollibee will spend as much as 23 billion pesos this year to add between 700 and 750 new outlets, it added.
“We will ramp up franchising to support our global expansion,” Ernesto Tanmantiong, CEO of Jollibee, said in the statement. He added that the company plans to “exponentially grow” in China where it has 567 outlets, the biggest market outside the Philippines.
After whetting the appetites of millions of Filipinos with its signature fried chicken dish Chickenjoy for over four decades, Jollibee embarked on an international acquisition binge to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming one of the world’s top five restaurant groups. In 2018, it spent $210 million to buy Denver-based Smashburger and acquired California-based Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for $330 million the following year. Today, the company owns 16 brands, including Hong Kong’s dim sum brand Tim Ho Wan and Taiwan’s Milksha bubble tea chain.
Jollibee traces its roots to 1975 when Tan and his family opened an ice cream outlet in Quezon City, a Manila suburb. The store added sandwiches and other items to its menu, eventually evolving into the first Jollibee restaurant in 1978. With a net worth of $3.2 billion, Tan and his family ranked No. 5 when the list of the Philippines richest was last published in August.
