Jollibee – Philippine fastfood restaurant chain

Jollibee is the leading hamburger restaurant chain in the Philippines. It is operated by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) which is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).  Jollibee was founded by Tony Tan Caktiong in 1975 originally as a two-branch ice cream parlor with its main outlet in Cubao, Quezon City.  In 1978, with seven branches, it incorporated to pursue a quick service hamburger restaurant concept.

At the beginning of 2011 there were 717 Jollibee restaurants in the Philippines. There were also over 50 Jollibee restaurants overseas including locations in the United States, Brunei, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.  Jollibee Foods Corporation also runs Chowking which has 400 outlets in the Philippines, Mang Inasal which has 345, Greenwich which has 223, Red Ribbon 221, and Manong Pepe Karinderia 12.  In late 2011 it also bought a controlling interest in the company operating the 23 outlet Philippine franchise of Burger King.  Another investment in early 2012 saw it acquire a stake in the SuperFoods Group, a company operating Highlands Coffee, Pho 24 and Hard Rock Cafe-franchised stores in Macau, Hong Kong and Vietnam.  Yonghe King in China and Chow Fun Holdings in the United States are other operations in which Jollibee Foods Corporation has an interest.  It previously also had holdings in the local franchise of Délifrance which it has since sold.  In late 2011 it disposed of its stake in the coffee house Caffe Ti-Amo.

Menu

Jollibee in the Philippines serves regular hamburger fastfood restaurant fare like burgers and sandwiches, fries and softdrinks as well as noodles, rice meals, and other add-ons.  The Jollibee Philippines premium burger is the Champ while its regular burger is called the Yum! or Yumburger. 

Hotdogs are also on the menu.  Filipino spaghetti and pancit palabok (called fiesta noodles internationally) are its noodle offerings.  Chickenjoy, Jollibee's breaded deep-fried chicken, is often served with rice although it can be ordered with noodles or as a bucket order without accompaniment.  Barbecued chicken or crispy fried bangus (milkfish) are alternatives among its other rice meals.  Its breakfast menu offers a choice of hotdog, longganisa, tapa, bangus, or corned beef hash served with eggs and sinangag (garlic fried rice) and also pancakes and sausage and egg pandesal.

Those who like the cured meats on Jollibee's breakfast menu may wish to know that Jollibee uses CDO products.

Drive-Thru and Delivery

Drive-thru takeout is available at many Jollibee restaurants.  Their phone number for delivery in the Philippines is 8-7000 or 878-7000.  Orders for delivery can also be placed online at http://www.jollibeedelivery.com from 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.

Kids Parties

Positioning itself as a family and child friendly restaurant, Jollibee offers packages for children's parties with employees serving as emcees for children's games and activities.

Jollitown

A children's television program in the Philippines was developed called Jollitown featuring Jollibee characters and ran on ABS-CBN for four seasons.  Jollibee's mascot is one of the most recognizable symbols in the Philippines.

Jollibee Foundation

Established in 2004, the Jollibee Foundation is Jollibee Foods' corporate social responsibility arm.  Annually 1% of the Jollibee group's net profits are set aside to fund the foundation's outreach projects in the areas of education, environment, housing, community and leadership development, and disaster assistance.

Franchising

A prospective Jollibee franchisee would be expected to put up an initial investment in the range of 15 to 30 million pesos.  Jollibee's head office is located in Pasig, Metro Manila.  Its main corporate trunk line is +63 2 634 1111.

Notes

It is said that Jollibee holds the distinction of being the only hamburger chain that has been able to maintain a larger market share than McDonald's in a market in which McDonald's competes.  A local McDonald's employee in the past tried to trivialize this competition saying that they considered Yum Brands as their main local rival but with Jollibee's expansion into other fast food segments such a statement, as amusing as it was then, would be even more amusing now.  Still McDonald's is probably Jollibee's only serious rival in the Philippine quick service hamburger space with the local Burger King franchise being bought by Jollibee recently.  Not that Burger King, even when independent, would change the evaluation since Burger King is not that large domestically and concentrated mainly in Metro Manila.  Other players have even less presence.

Other competitors might include Army Navy Burger + Burrito, Brothers Burger, and Stackers Burger Café—but they offer premium burgers.  Many local hamburger restaurant rivals that competed with Jollibee on value in the early days like Cindy's and Tropical Hut have disappeared or slowly receded into the background, although there are still some hamburger stand chains like Minute Burger around catering to a lower market segment.

More information:

• Camus, Miguel R. (September 8, 2010). Jollibee terminates Delifrance franchise. Business Mirror.
• Dumlao, Doris C. (January 24, 2012). Jollibee buys into Asian food group. The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
• Hookway, James. (June 6, 2008). Philippines's Jollibee Goes Abroad. The Wall Street Journal.
• Jollibee Buys Burger King Franchisee. (October 1, 2011). The Manila Bulletin.
• Jollibee swallows Mang Inasal. (October 21, 2010). Malaya.