Jollibee Corporation under International Marketing Phase

Fully committed to international marketing activities, a firm in this phase seeks markets
for its products throughout the world.

 The international marketing plans implemented by Jollibee are focused on adding

minimal region-specific flavors or products to their menu to better cater local tastes in the
foreign markets. Among these are: acquiring the Yonghe King brand whose soy milk and
youtiao are well loved by its patrons in China; in US, acquiring Smashburger which
competes as a JFC subsidiary in the emergent ‘better burger’ market; in aiming to
launch a fresh Mexican concept, the firm has teamed up with the seven-time James
Beard awardee, Rick Bayless; and lastly, offering the Saigon Chili Chicken flavor in
Vietnam.11
 JFC's vision has evolved in recent years to include a goal of being among the top five
restaurant companies in the world. To achieve this, they plan to open 500 new Jollibee
restaurants in the United States alone over the next 5-7 years. Their CEO and president
also stated that they are on track to open 15 Burger King and Panda Express locations
in the state (2021).21
 In 2021, it was said that the Jollibee restaurant chain is investing €50 million for its target
expansion to 50 stores within the next five years in Europe, €10 million of which is going
in Spain.2 Specifically, in September of the same year, JFC has opened its first Jollibee
store in Spain and has become its biggest branch in Europe. The Madrid restaurant
introduces Jollibee’s brand redesign for European customers to Spain, aiming to create
a memorable experience with bright graphics, bold wall murals, and tiles inspired by
woven fabrics.17
 The President of JFC, Tanmantiong revealed that around 80% of Jollibee’s new stores
will be overseas and “equally split” among China, North America and Southeast Asia. He
then added that the company is currently in global expansion mode in preparation for the
full recovery from the pandemic and this will continue in the next few years. 3
 In August 2021, Jollibee Worldwide, a unit of JFC’s, has completed the acquisition of
Hong Kong-based Tim Ho Wan by paying S$71.56 million (US$53.25 million) for a 15
per cent share that it did not yet own, to private-equity fund Titan Dining, which held the
restaurant’s master franchise. It now owns 100 percent of Tim Ho Wan. This may also
because recently, China has become JFC’s second-largest market and is playing an
important role in generating revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic. 16
 JFC North America, one of its subsidiaries, was announced last August 2021 as having
reinforced its aim to the highest quality standards as the company rapidly broadens its
reach with digital HACCP and temperature monitoring solutions from SmartSense by
Digi, in support of JFC's commitment to its international ventures. SmartSense by Digi's
state-of-the-art sensors and digital task management tools are now in use in over 100
retail locations across the United States and Canada, ensuring the best quality of food
and safety at all Jollibee®, Chowking®, and Red Ribbon® locations.18
 JFC announced in August of this year that it is launching a joint venture with Golden
Plate Pte. Ltd. (GPPL), a Singapore-based company, with the goal of opening 120
Jollibee outlets in Malaysia within 10 years, beginning in 2022. This is in keeping with
JFC's fastest expanding region outside of the Philippines, with 885 branches.19
  JFC reported in June 2021 that it plans to open 950 stores worldwide between 2021 and
2022, encompassing the numerous brands it owns in the Philippines and abroad, as it
capitalizes on the economic rebound following rigorous vaccination efforts. Their CEO,
Ernesto Tanmantiong, stated that they want to establish 450 stores this year and rise to
at least 500 stores next year, which was their pre-pandemic level.20
 Lately, Jollibee and DoorDash, a leading last-mile logistics platform, debuted a new
mobile kitchen in Ontario Canada last September 2, 2021. The 15-meter traveling
kitchen will allow the Jollibee brand to expand its presence in both existing and new
markets without the traditional overhead costs of opening a brick-and-mortar store.13
Firm has become multinational or international depending on foreign revenues.

 To become a multinational corporation, the business must be large and must own a
huge amount of assets, both physical and financial. The company’s targets are high, and
they can generate substantial profits. 14 In this sense, JFC seems to be qualifying as one
since, last June 2021, on an article it was revealed that the company planned to issue up
to P12 billion worth of perpetual preferred shares by September of the same year after
securing the approval of its shareholders last week. It was also revealed yesterday,
Sept. 27, that overseas markets contribute around 40% of the company's overall
revenue, and its overseas businesses hold strong growth potential. The group racked up
71.3 billion pesos ($1.4 billion) in sales in the first six months of 2021, up 13.7% from a
year earlier. It earned 1.1 billion pesos in net profit in the first half, a drastic turnaround
from an 11.9-billion-peso loss one year earlier.
 It was also forecasted that by 2025, half of the restaurant chain’s sales will come from
abroad. Jollibee is lso predicted to post a net income of P6.16 billion in 2022, according
to averages of analyst estimates by Bloomberg.3
 Based on its operations, JFC is a decentralized corporation type of MNC since they have
a strong presence in its home country, the Philippines. 7 Furthermore, decentralized
multinational companies incorporates a system in which subsidiaries are granted a high
degree of autonomy since they only must follow the general outlines provided by
headquarters.8 They are only judged on their ability to meet profit targets, and their
relations with headquarters are mainly restricted to financial flows. 8 In the same case,
JFC also adheres to this type of system which is shown in a graph below:
 Based from the organizational structure, JFC have less concentrated authority as lower
levels in the organizational hierarchy can make decisions. Each franchise in their food
chain restos are responsible for its own operation. 9 JFC operates through different
segments mainly food service, franchising and leasing. Jollibee’s operating branch of
food service is responsible for all the meals prepared and delivered along with Jollibee’s
day to day operation. Franchising on the other hand is about managing Jollibee’s
promotion, business strategy and products offering support to franchisees, which
ensures overall success of the organization. The lease administration operates the
company’s real estate, construction and renovation. JFC offers long term leases to their
franchisees so that their clients wouldn’t have a hard time finding a place to put up their
franchise.10
 To be considered multinational company, the entity must have developed partnerships
and affiliations with other businesses, non-governmental organizations, and
governments, since they're doing business across borders.6 In relation to this, in 2019,
Jollibee Group acquires The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, its largest and most multi-
national acquisition to date. In 2021, Jollibee Group also reveals that it will establish a
50/50 joint venture to expand Yoshinoya, one of the largest and most recognized
Japanese restaurant brands globally, in the Philippines. In the same year, discloses that
it will buy the shares of the remaining partners in the fund that owns the Tim Ho Wan
Brand – increasing its interest from 85% to 100%. 5
 Companies don't have to be traded publicly to become multinational corporations, but
many of these corporations do go public. Publicly traded corporations make shares in
their businesses available to investors, just like JFC. 6 Jollibee CEO Ernesto
Tanmantiong said he is looking toward global expansion while looking for acquisitions
that could be funded with the company’s P57.5 billion ($1.2 billion) in cash and short-
term investments.3 The corporation also maintains a 50% interest in joint ventures for
Highlands Coffee (with 147 stores), Pho 24 (with 33 outlets), 12 Hotpot (16) and other
eight brands along with a 40% interest in Smashburger, which has 376 branches in the
US.

Sources:
1. https://www.bworldonline.com/jollibee-aims-to-be-in-worlds-top-5/
2. https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/jollibees-1st-store-in-spain-opens-in-heart-of-
madrid/
3. https://www.asianjournal.com/business/business-news/jollibee-seeks-global-expansion-
in-2021/
4. https://www.jollibee.com.ph/
5. https://jollibeegroup.com/history-milestones/
6. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/craft-industry-24155.html
7. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multinationalcorporation.asp
8. https://strategiccfo.com/organizational-structure/
9. https://www.oboolo.com/business-accountability-
management/management/essay/centralization-versus-decentralization-in-multinational-
companies-608773.html
10. https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/2DdpPJtOSLWMssGIqvDm?
policy=eyJjYWxsIjpbInJlYWQiXSwiaGFuZGxlIjoiMkRkcFBKdE9TTFdNc3NHSXF2RG0iL
CJleHBpcnkiOjQyOTQ5NjcyOTUsIm1heFNpemUiOjIwOTcxNTIwfQ==&signature=7d16
2f7e576002b06a0b035431e4b0b545d0012cbd59395c052eacfb38a58e06
11. https://businesschief.asia/leadership-and-strategy/jollibee-foods-conquering-the-world-
stage
12. https://www.eatthis.com/news-jollibee-chickenwich-launch/
13. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/jollibee-and-doordash-debut-first-of-its-kind-
mobile-kitchen-in-hamilton-ontario-on-september-2-812335926.html
14. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/multinational-
corporation/
15. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/06/28/jollibee-to-bolster-balance-sheet-via-
%E2%82%A712-billion-share-sale/
16. https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3147628/jollibee-famous-its-fried-
chicken-completes-acquisition-michelin
17. https://mb.com.ph/2021/09/26/jollibee-opens-its-biggest-branch-in-europe/
18. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005037/en/Jollibee-Foods-
Corporation-North-America-Supports-Expansion-and-Commitment-to-Quality-with-
Digital-HACCP-and-Temperature-Monitoring-Solutions-from-SmartSense-by-Digi
%C2%AE
19. https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/29/jollibee-forms-jv-to-open-120-branches-in-malaysia/
20. https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/26/jollibee-group-to-open-950-stores-from-2021-to-2022/
21. https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/22/jollibee-targets-500-stores-in-the-us-in-next-7-years/