(2020) How to Franchise Jollibee in the Philippines, US, HK, Singapore, Middle East

Jollibee is undeniably the largest fastfood and quick service restaurant company (QSR) in the Philippines.

Aside from operating Chow King, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Greenwich, Burger King, and Panda Express, they are also now the owners of international brands such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (worldwide), Smashburger (in the United States), and Tim Ho Wan (in Asia-Pacific).

Interested to be part of the global success of Jollibee? Planning to operate your own Jollibee franchise soon? Read on to find out how much is the franchise fee of Jollibee and see what it takes to be a franchise owner!

History of Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC)

Jollibee is the flagship restaurant of food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), a multinational chain of fast food restaurants headquartered in Pasig City, Philippines.

Interestingly, Jollibee did not actually start as a fried chicken or hamburger store. Its owner, Tony Tan Caktiong, initially opened a Magnolia Ice Cream parlor in 1978 in Cubao, Quezon City.

After a few years of operations, he noticed that his customers were clamoring not just for desserts but for hot meals and other meal items, which is why he decided to shift focus from ice cream to hotdogs, hamburgers, and rice meals.

Soon enough, customers no longer associated Jollibee with ice cream, but with its trademark “langhap sarap” (literally “aroma goodness”) items such as Chickenjoy, Yumburger, Amazing Aloha Burger, Jollibee Spaghetti, and Peach Mango Pie, among others.

Jollibee quickly grew primarily through acquisitions, buying category leaders Greenwich (pizza), Red Ribbon (cakses and pastries), Chowking (Chinese fastfood), and Mang Inasal (grilled chicken).

In recent years, Jollibee embarked on a global expansion plan in a bid to become known as a formidable food player in the international market.

It started acquiring shares of U.S. burger company Smash Burger in 2015 and completed its full acquisition in 2018. Also in 2018, JFC gained the right to operate the Tim Ho Wan franchise in the entire Asia-Pacific while in 2019, it surprised the global market when it announced the 100% acquisition of American coffee chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).

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As seen in the table below, sourced from the Annual Report of Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the company operates thousands of its restaurant brands globally, with the flagship Jollibee accounting for almost 1,400 of these stores worldwide.

Number of Jollibee stores and JFC brands worldwide

Jollibee’s International Locations

The flagship store, Jollibee, operates restaurants in more than 100 international locations around the world. It is currently present in ten (10) countries including:

• USA (California, Hawaii, New York, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, etc.)
• Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Al-Khobar, Jeddah, Jubail, Taif, Yanbu, etc.)
• Kuwait (Kuwait City, Al-Ahmadi)
• United Arab Emirates (Dubai, UAE)
• Qatar (Doha, Al Khor, Al Rayyan)
• Bahrain
• Hong Kong
• Brunei
• Vietnam
• Singapore

Jollibee’s Acquisitions and Joint Ventures

In line with Jollibee’s vision to become “one of the Top 5 Restaurant Companies in the World,” as shared by former JFC Group President Jose Maria A. Miñana, Jr.  in a BusinessWorld interview in 2016, the company has embarked on an aggressive global expansion plan that saw it acquire multinational food brands or partner with other popular food companies.

Since 2011, Jollibee has been the master franchisor and operator of Burger King in the Philippines. It currently operates more than 500 Burger King stores locally.

In 2019, JFC announced its “largest and most multinational” acquisition so far, paying $350 million to acquire 100% of global coffee chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL). Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, has 1,189 outlets in 27 countries as of end-2018. According to JFC Chairman Caktiong, the CBTL acquisition will “add 14% to [JFC’s] global system-wide sales, 26% to its total store network, and will bring international business’ contribution to 36% of worldwide sales.”

In 2018, the conglomerate completed the full acquisition of US burger chain Smashburger. ABS-CBN News reported that JFC paid an additional $10 million to raise its stake from 85% to 100% of the company. Smashburger is an American hamburger restaurant chain from Denver, Colorado with more than 370 outlets across the US.

Also in 2018, Jollibee acquired a significant 45% stake in Singapore’s Titan Dining LP, the master franchise owner of Tim Ho Wan in Asia Pacific. Jollibee will operate a Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Shanghai, in preparation for a possible “100% ownership” of the entire Tim Ho Wan master franchise in Asia Pacific by 2025.

It was announced in 2018 that Jollibee will also bring to the Philippines the American Chinese restaurant Panda Express. JFC has set up a joint venture with the original owners to initially operate five (5) branches in the Philippines. Panda Express is a family-owned Chinese American restaurant group headquartered in Pasadena, California, with more than 2,100 outlets in a dozen international locations.

Bloomberg News also reported that Jollibee is planning to acquire the UK sandwich restaurant Pret-A-Manger (Pret) but negotiations reportedly fell through.

In addition, Jollibee owns and operates dozens of outlets of Yonghe King, a Taiwanese restaurant chain in China, and Hong Zhuang Yuan, a full-service restaurant chain in Beijing.

Jollibee’s Revenues and Net Income

Jollibee’s Consolidated System-wide Sales (SWS) increased by 14.9% from P212.19 billion in 2018 to P243.79 billion in 2019. System-wide Sales is JFC’s measure for all sales to consumers, both from Group-owned and franchised stores. Consolidated revenues, meanwhile, increased by 11.5% to P179.63 billion for the year 2019.

JFC’s Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) for net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company was P5.887 per share, down from P7.555 EPS in 2018.

How to Franchise Jollibee in the Philippines

According to the company, more than half of the Jollibee stores in the Philippines are managed and operated by franchisees. To be eligible as a franchise owner, Jollibee requires franchisees to have the following characteristics:

• With good community standing
• Strong leadership and people-handling skills
• Willingness to devote time in managing the restaurant
• Can successfully complete the required training program

Take note that Jollibee awards franchises only to individuals. This means only a person, not a company, can initially apply for a franchise. However, upon approval of the franchise application, the individual can create a corporation, but he or she must have clear majority ownership in said corporation, according to JFC.

The franchisee is also required to successfully complete a 3-month full time Basic Operations Training Program (BOTP) at a designated Jollibee training store.

Philippine Franchise Application Steps

Interested to start your franchise journey? Simply follow these steps.

1. Fill out the Jollibee Franchise application form online available at www.jollibee.com.ph or submit the documents to the contact address below.

2. Prepare a proposal containing the following documents:

• Letter of Intent – containing the exact address of the proposed site, franchise applicant’s mailing address, contact numbers, etc.
• Vicinity Map of Proposed Site – to guide Jollibee’s field personnel who will visit the location and conduct on-site evaluation
• Legal document certifying applicant’s ownership of the site (optional)
• Detailed resume or bio-data of franchise applicant

3. Mail the documents to:

JOLLIBEE FOODS CORPORATION

Franchising Services Department
5th Floor Jollibee Plaza
#10 F. Ortigas Jr. Road
Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605

Application processing is done within one month from application. Jollibee emphasizes, though, that mere submission of the application form does not obligate the applicant or Jollibee in any way. Jollibee says the processing is just the first step (evaluation of proposed location) in the entire application process.

Jollibee Franchise Fee in the Philippines

How much is the Jollibee franchise fee in the Philippines?

As of 2020, the franchise fee of Jollibee is P35 Million to P55 Million per store. This is according to the official website of Jollibee.

We have been monitoring its franchise cost and we noticed that it has been rising from previous years as follows:

• In 2019 – Jollibee franchise fee was P35 Million to P55 Million per store
• In 2017 – Jollibee ‘s required franchise investment was P30 Million to P40 Million per store
• In 2014 – Jollibee’s total franchise fee was P25 Million to P35 Million per store

Jollibee Franchise Investment and Inclusions

This total investment amount includes the construction of the store, kitchen equipment and facilities, furniture and fixtures, aircon system, signage, and pre-operating expenses.

However, it does not include yet the cost of food ingredients, employee salary and wages, venue lease or rental fee, and other related expenses, all of which are to be shouldered by the franchise owner.

According to Jollibee, they will assist in the recruitment and training of the franchisee’s management team. However, this team will be employees of the franchisee and, as such, their salaries and benefits will be paid by the franchisee even while on training.

Jollibee Return on Investment (ROI) and Payback Period

According to Jollibee, restaurant profitability is dependent on several factors such as sales, market potential, investment and the ability of the franchisee to control his operating expenses. Details of investment cost, return of investments and other franchising details will be discussed with the prospective franchisee once Jollibee has approved the application.

How to Franchise Jollibee in other Countries

According to the company, individuals interested to franchise Jollibee in locations abroad must be:

• An entrepreneur who is self-driven
• Willing to devote time to oversee the day-to-day operation of his restaurant
• Willing to undergo full-time training on restaurant operations
• Able to fund the investment requirement
• With minimum Net Worth of $5 Million (equivalent to around P250 Million)

Take note of the final requirement in the bullet points above: the franchise applicant must prove to have net worth of at least $5 Million or around P250 Million!

Same with the requirement for franchises in the Philippines, international franchisees can only be individuals. The individual can then organize a corporation (but he or she must show clear majority ownership) once the franchise is awarded. The franchisee is also required to undergo a 3-month full time Basic Operations Training Program at a designated Jollibee training store.

International Franchise Application Steps

Simply refer to the step-by-step guide below if you’re planning on franchising a Jollibee store in another country:

1. Fill out the Jollibee franchise application form online which can be found at www.jollibee.com.ph. The documents may also be physically submitted at the Jollibee Philippines head office below.

2. Prepare a proposal containing the following documents:

• Letter of Intent – containing the exact address of your proposed site, your exact mailing address, contact numbers, etc.
• Detailed resume or bio-data of the applicant
• Profile of the company interested to franchise
• Demographic and economic information of the market you are interested to franchise in. Potential customers, including estimated number of Filipinos, and other nationalities.
• List of possible sites that the applicant or the company can acquire
• Financial records showing financial liquidity, total assets, capability of the applicant or the company to fund the Jollibee stores planning to be put up.

3. Mail the documents to:

JOLLIBEE FOODS CORPORATION

c/o Ditas Comoda
International Operations
10th Floor Jollibee Plaza
#10 F. Ortigas Jr. Road
Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605

4. Submission of an application form does not obligate you or Jollibee in any way. It is just the first step in the application process, which is an evaluation of your proposed location. Actual selection of a franchisee is always in Jollibee’s sole discretion.

Franchise Fee of Jollibee in other Countries

How much is the franchise fee for Jollibee locations abroad?

As of 2020, the international franchise cost to operate Jollibee in other countries ranges from $450,000 to US$800,000 (equivalent to around P23 million to P42 million) per store.

Interestingly, there has been no change in this franchise cost from the time this article was initially posted in PinoyMoneyTalk.com back in 2014.

This investment amount already includes the franchise fee, construction of the store, kitchen equipment and facilities, furniture and fixtures, aircon system, signage, and pre-operating expenses. It does not include the cost of food ingredients, employee salary and wages, venue lease or rental fee, and other related expenses, all of which are to be shouldered by the potential franchise owner.

Details of investment cost, return of investments and other franchising details will be discussed with the applicant once the application has been approved.

Looking for other popular and profitable food cart franchises in the Philippines? Check out PinoyMoneyTalk’s list of 100 Best Franchises in the Philippines under Php 1 Million

Information and Image sources: Jollibee’s Official Website and Facebook page