Jollibee signs franchise agreement with Yoshinoya

MANILA, Philippines — Listed food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) has signed its franchise agreement with Yoshinoya International Philippines Inc. (YIPI) to operate and expand the Yoshinoya brand in the country.

Yoshinoya Jollibee Foods Inc. (YJFI) will own and operate the existing Yoshinoya stores in the Philippines, JFC said in a disclosure.

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.

YIPI is the Philippine subsidiary of Asia Yoshinoya International SDN BHD and Yoshinoya Holdings Co. Ltd., the trademark owner of the Yoshinoya System.

YJFI plans to open 50 stores in the Philippines in the long-term. It will have an initial authorized capital stock of P130 million.

Yoshinoya is JFC’s first ever Japanese food chain, adding to the company’s portfolio of 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 percent to the Philippine business’ system wide sales, JFC said.

As an addition to JFC’s system wide sales, Yoshinoya’s contribution will not be significant yet as it has a very limited number of stores, but it has a huge opportunity to increase sales by taking advantage of the strong demand for food delivery, the company said.

JFC operates in 34 countries, with over 5,800 stores globally. Outside the Philippines, JFC is in the United States, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and India.

Its wholly-owned brands are Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Smashburger.