San Miguel expands roast chicken chain

San Miguel Foods Inc. on Wednesday said it is expanding its network of stores offering roast chicken under Magnolia’s Chick ’n Juicy brand to serve more customers during the pandemic.

San Miguel said it opened its 87th store in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan. In 18 months, the chain of stores has grown its presence in 12 out of 17 cities in Metro Manila and several nearby provinces. It has also recently expanded to Petron Treats stores in Diego Silang Taguig and Libis Quezon City.

“With the pandemic still a threat to lives and health, we’re emphasizing safety across all San Miguel businesses,” San Miguel President and COO Ramon

S. Ang said.

“In our food businesses, since the start of the quarantine to the present, we’ve introduced many ways for consumers to have continuous, convenient, and safe access to our products—from rolling stores, community selling, to online ordering,” he added.

Ang said the retail chain adopts high standards of safety, in much the same way Magnolia follows the strictest safety protocols for its poultry business.

Food products are also cooked and prepared by trained store personnel with emphasis on stringent safety and health measures. The food items are packed in resealable airtight bags to maintain safety, quality, juiciness, and flavor.

Ang said the strategy is a combination of outlet expansion, strengthening its delivery network, utilizing online ordering platforms, and initiating community selling.

Apart from standalone outlets, its roast chicken brand has also utilized the available network of San Miguel unit Petron Corp. to open more branches at fuel service stations to increase its reach.

The retail food chain has also beefed up its in-house delivery service, serving various areas in Metro Manila, even as it has partnered with third-party online food delivery services such as Lalafood, and soon to be on Grabfood and Foodpanda.