Jollibee to open 1st store in Guam amid continued overseas expansion

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) will be opening its first store in Guam this April, as part of its efforts to increase revenues from its international business.

The homegrown food giant said in a statement over the weekend that it will open a Jollibee store in the United States territory on April 6, located near Micronesia Mall in Dededo.

This will be added to the 37 Jollibee stores that JFC currently has in the US, spread out across several states such as New York, Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii.

“This is a special moment in Jollibee’s history. We’ve long dreamed of the day we could serve the beautiful island of Guam, with its unique blend of Pacific, Asian, and American cultures and cuisine,” JFC Head of International Business for Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia Dennis M. Flores said in a statement.

While looking to attract overseas Filipinos working in the area, JFC also targets to cater to the local market. The company noted that they have started to bring in more local customers in its Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manhattan stores.

“The milestone store opening comes as JFC continues to even the split between its domestic and international sales,” the company said.

JFC Founder and Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong earlier said that they want revenues to be equally provided by their local and international businesses.

The listed company allocated to spend P17.2 billion in capital expenditures this year, almost double its actual spending of P9.6 billion in 2018, in order to support its aggressive store expansion both locally and overseas. Part of the budget will also go to the renovation of existing outlets and investments in manufacturing plants.

JFC said it targets to have 8,000 stores by 2022 coming from both organic growth and acquisitions.

By end-2018, JFC had a total of 4,521 stores across several brands such as Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King, Pho 24, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, and Highlands Coffee, among others. It also entered four new markets last year, namely Italy, Macau, United Kingdom, and Malaysia.

The firm’s latest acquisitions include American burger chain Smashburger, which was fully purchased by the group last December. It has also recently invested in Mexican restaurant chain Tortas Frontera LLC founded by chef Rick Bayless.