Jollibee to bring Smashburger to Asia

MANILA, Philippines — Asians will soon be able to grab a bite of the trademark 100 percent Angus beef burgers of Colorado-headquartered Smashburger, the casual burger brand acquired by Jollibee Foods Corp. 

Jollibee is set to bring Smashburger to Asia, starting in the Philippines, said Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong. 

“We will bring it to Asia. We don’t have a definite plan yet, probably we will in two years,” he said.

The expansion is set to cover Singapore and other countries in the region, Tanmantiong said.  

Smashburger serves fresh 100 percent Certified Angus beef burgers. It currently has 349 restaurants. Outside the US, it has presence in Panama, Costa Rica, Canada, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and we signed up to England and Egypt.

Jollibee through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bee Good! Inc. (BGI) has an 85 percent stake in SJBF LLC, the parent company Smashburger. 

The stake grew to 85 percent from just 40 percent previously as the conglomerate said its acquisition of more shares in Smashburger would allow it to have a more significant business in the United States.

Furthermore, it would increase the sales contribution from the US to Jollibee’s worldwide system wide sales to 15 percent from five percent and the sales contribution from foreign business to worldwide system wide sales to 30 percent from 20 percent at present. 

The acquisition is expected to help the company achieve its target of having a 50:50 revenue contribution from overseas and domestic stores by 2023.

About 30 percent of the group’s revenues currently come from stores overseas. 

“We see still there is a strong potential for the Philippine growth..We expect to have a 50-50 ratio (Philippine, foreign ratio). From 70, 30 at present,” Tanmantiong said.

Jollibee CFO Ysmael Baysa said based on the latest project, the company may reach the 50-50 sharing by 2023 or 2025.

The conglomerate continues to expand abroad including Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia.

It opened the first Jollibee store in Milan, Toronto, and Macau this year.

As of end-May, the Jollibee group has 4,239 stores in the Philippines and abroad comprising of 1,297 Jollibee stores; 586 Chowking outlets; 276 Greenwich stores; 464 Red Ribbon branches; 504 Mang Inasal stores; 96 Burger King stores; 310 Yonghe King stores; 42 Hong Zhuang Yuan outlets; 15 Dunkin Donut shops; 262 Highlands Coffee; 30 outlets of Pho24; eight Hard Rock Café branches and 349 Smashburger outlets.