Food makes up bulk of Philippine brands going global

MANILA, Philippines — A large chunk of Filipino brands seen to go global by 2022 are those involved in the food business, the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) said.

“Food will still be the majority because we see it from the data. The 30 plus brands we have now, 80 to 90 percent are comprised of food. That is what we are really pushing for, food,” PFA president Richard Sanz told reporters during the opening of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2019.

He said the group expects 100 local brands to have established its presence overseas in three years as the template created through franchising helps them become more successful in expanding operations.

In terms of priority markets overseas, he said the Philippine brands are expected to go to Southeast Asian countries due to proximity.

Apart from Southeast Asia, he said Philippine brands would also go to markets where there are many Filipino workers such as the Middle East and North America.

He said some local brands like fastfood chain Jollibee has taken the strategy of tapping into markets with overseas Filipino workers, and then expanding to other countries.

Earlier, he said the PFA expects revenues to grow by 25 percent this year to about $31 billion from $25 billion last year.

While the PFA earlier estimated revenues would hit as much $24 billion by 2020, he said the industry has recently seen rapid growth.

PFA’s higher revenues this year would be driven by increased consumption as the middle class continues to grow and more jobs are created outside top tier cities.

Expansion of Philippine brands overseas is likewise seen to help drive higher revenues this year.

To encourage Philippine brands to expand their presence overseas, the group is organizing three trade missions this year.

The first leg would cover Thailand and Indonesia in the middle of the year, while the second leg would have Los Angeles and San Francisco in the US, as well as Vancouver as its stops, and the last one would be in the United Arab Emirates.