Manila-based Jollibee is seeking to build upon strong 2023 outlet growth for its Highlands Coffee and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brands and plans to scale its Common Man Coffee Roasters and Tiong Bahru Bakery franchises in the Philippines
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A Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee shop in Dasmariñas, the Philippines | Photo credit: Lance Lozano
Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is seeking to further scale its branded coffee chain businesses this year as part of plans to open 750 new stores across its quick-service brand portfolio in 2024.
The Manila-based foodservice group opened 658 new stores globally in 2023 to reach 6,885 outlets across its 18 businesses.
Alongside its eponymous Jollibee fast-food brand, which accounts for a quarter of its total footprint, JFC’s fastest-growing brands are the coffee chains Highlands Coffee and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).
JFC opened 54 net new Highland Coffee stores in the fourth quarter of 2023 to reach 779 sites across Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as 32 net new CBTL outlets to reach 1,164 stores across 26 markets globally.
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Following successive years of net outlet closures, California-based CBTL returned to net outlet growth at the end of 2022 and is nearing the 1,189 stores it operated when JFC acquired the brand for $350m in July 2019.
JFC’s coffee and tea brands also include the 310-store bubble tea chain Milksha, alongside the Singaporean café brands Common Man Coffee Roasters (CMCR) and Tiong Bahru Bakery, which the group formed a new joint venture company to franchise in the Philippines last year.
The group launched the first CMCR in the Philippines at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City in January 2024.
JFC achieved 15% year-on-year revenue growth to reach P244bn ($4.4bn) in the 12 months ending 31 December 2023. The group’s net income increased 22% to P8.9bn ($162.3m).
“Our full year 2023 results reflect the strength of our execution and resiliency of our brands. Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, we will scale the business with our four big focus areas: expanding our Jollibee brand internationally; growing our coffee and tea business; exponentially growing in China in multiple lower tier cities; and sustaining our strong growth and market leadership in the Philippines,” said Ernesto Tanmantiong, CEO, JFC.
Alongside opening up to 750 stores, JFC also forecasts system-wide sales growth of 10%-14%, like-for-like sales growth of 5%-7% and operating profit growth of 10%-15% in 2024.
The group’s other foodservice brands include Chowking, Mang Inasal, Greenwich Pizza, Smashburger, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Yonghe King, Red Ribbon, Tortazo, Tim Ho Wan and Yoshinoya, as well as Burger King and Panda Express in the Philippines.
