JFC expands PHO24 restaurants

MANILA, Philippines — Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the listed food conglomerate, will open 100 stores in the Philippines for its PHO24 pho chain brand, starting with three stores this year, as part of its target to be in the top five restaurant companies in the world.

The first opening in 2021 is scheduled in February and will be located at the Jollibee Tower in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

Vietnam’s PHO24 serves Vietnamese dishes with pho as its signature product. Since 2018, the Jollibee Group has been operating PHO24 in the country with PHO24’s first branch at the Double Dragon Meridian Park in Pasay.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, PHO24 achieved significant milestones last year, the Jollibee Group said in a statement.

In the second quarter of 2020, PHO24 launched its Facebook online ordering platform, which increased Filipino consumers’ access to its menu. It also successfully launched two new rice meals – Saigon Fried Chicken and Shaking Bee.

Both contributed significantly to its total average daily sales.

Jollibee Group Country Business Group head for the Philippines Joseph Tanbuntiong said the company is looking forward to the new store openings of PHO24 this year as part of plans for the long-term strategic growth of the Jollibee Group.

“Aside from the openings, we are also developing the brand’s own delivery platform to cater to the increasing demand and to reach new customers. We will also be launching new products, which we believe will excite our customers and make them crave PHO24 more,” he said.

“We have seen the growing love of Filipinos for authentic Vietnamese cuisine, and PHO24’s expansion in the Philippines provides Filipino foodies with distinctly different pho meals that are both tasty and nutritious,” Tanbuntiong said.