Jollibee

The Bee has finally arrived in Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi! Can’t wait to welcome you soon 🤩

United Arab Emirates · 22 Oct 2020

Philippines fast-food giant Jollibee acquires The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to ramp up coffee business

Philippines-based fast-food giant Jollibee has acquired The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. The deal will see Jollibee pay $350m for the California-based coffee and tea shop chain, and invest $100m into Coffee Bean through a Singapore-based holding group. Coffee Bean will become Jollibee’s second-largest business after its fast-food business and will account for 14% of its global sales. Jollibee currently operates 3,195 restaurant outlets in the Philippines and 1,418 stores globally. “The deal will bring international business’ contribution to 36% of worldwide sales and will bring Jollibee closer to its vision to be one of the top five restaurant companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation,” said Tony Tan Caktiong, the chairman of Jollibee. “Our priority is to accelerate the growth of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand particularly in Asia, by strengthening its brand development, marketing, and the franchisee support system.” Jollibee previously acquired American hamburger chain Smashburger after acquiring the remaining 15% stake that it did not own for $10m in December 2018.

Philippines · 23 Jul 2019

New Store Opening

The Joy of Jollibee is finally here in City Centre Deira on 30th August 2018. The excitement of the Grand Opening went on high when Jollibee started the Most Awaited Dance. Watch out all the excitement during our Grand Opening at

United Arab Emirates · 2 Sep 2018

نعلن لكم الافتتاح التجربي لمطعم شرمب بوت🦐🦀 الفتره : من الساعه ٦ الي ١١مساءاً العنوان : المباركيه مجمع اوتاد ويسعدنا حضوركم لتجربه افضل المأكولات البحريه

Kuwait · 26 Jul 2018

Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of over 750 stores. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee enjoys the lion’s share of the local market that is more than all the other multinational brands combined. The company has also embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan in the USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, firmly establishing itself as a growing international QSR player.

1 Jun 2017

New Store Opening

Hello, everyone! ☀️ #JollibeeIbnBattuta is NOW OPEN! 🎉 Spread the joy with your friends and family and visit us from 8 AM until 10 PM and enjoy your good tasting jolly faves 😊 See you at the 1st Floor, Metro Link Food Court, Ibn Battuta Mall.

United Arab Emirates · 16 May 2017

Jollibee opens another branch – this time, in Satwa

The Philippines’ jolliest bee seems to have found another home closer to Pinoys. The homegrown fastfood chain has opened its newest branch in Satwa on March 16, 2017. Joining the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Philippine Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, his wife Dr. Yasmin Balajadia-Cortes, Seed Group Chairman Hisham Al Gurg, Mme. Hala Badri, and the management and staff of Jollibee Satwa. Consul General Cortes, a fan of the brand itself, hailed Seed Group’s vision of bringing Jollibee and the special brand of Filipino cuisine into the UAE, further noting the unprecedented success of Jollibee in the UAE. He emphasized the special bond Jollibee brings to Filipinos and hoped that the unique Jollibee experience will spread not only to Filipinos in the UAE but to the 200 other ethnicities and nationalities in the country. Pinoys who were at the venue were in their shorts and slippers with most of them saying they just woke up and went as soon as they knew that Jollibee Satwa has opened. Great thing was most of them live a few steps away from the restaurant. “Ang saya nga eh kasi ang bilis lang, open na agad yung Satwa (branch). Mas malapit na ‘to sa’min keysa pumunta pa sa Al Ghurair or Burjuman,” Jacquelyn Andres, one of the many who joined the public opening, told The Filipino Times. Jollibee Satwa is the fastfood chain’s 7th branch in the UAE and 5th in Dubai. Five more stores are set to open soon with Ibn Battuta Mall’s branch opening in May and another branch in Tourist Club area in Abu Dhabi. Three more store locations will be announced soon. Jollibee Satwa is located at Manila bldg. 12 A St. Al Hudaiba Road, Al Satwa, Dubai. (ALS)

United Arab Emirates · 25 Mar 2017

Fast food chain Jollibee to open first Abu Dhabi branch in Mushrif Mall

The wait is over! Abu Dhabi Jollibee fans no longer have to travel to Dubai to get their fix as the wildly popular Filipino fast food chain is set to open tomorrow (December 28) at 10am of the third floor of Mushrif Mall. This is the first branch to come to Abu Dhabi with the other three all located in Dubai (The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, and BurJuman Center). The first outlet opened inside The Dubai Mall in 2015 to a vastly successful opening day which saw people queue for hours while the chain sold record-breaking amounts of their famous food. It was also considered their most successful worldwide opening for the company. At the time, Dennis M Flores, Jollibee’s vice president for international markets, said, "Our 1000th Jollibee store opening at The Dubai Mall was the most successful store opening in the world. We welcomed and served hundreds of people eager to have a taste of Jollibee." Jollibee plans to open a branch in Al Ghurair Centre, one in Sharjah and another one in Abu Dhabi. By 2020, the company says there will be 30 outlets across the UAE. elau@thenational.ae

United Arab Emirates · 26 Dec 2016

Jollibee Opens 4th Branch in Al Ghurair Centre

DUBAI: Jollibee ended the workweek with a bang as it opened its 4th branch in the city today, Thursday, Aug. 4. The outlet is located in Al Ghurair Center on Rigga, Deira. The event started with the official ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Jollibee UAE franchisee Hisham Al Gurg and business partner Hala Badri with Philippine Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes and his wife, Yasmin. “I feel excited and more importantly, I am happy that we are getting closer to the Filipino community. For a long time, people have asked us to open here because a lot of Filipinos live in this area,” Al Gurg told The Filipino Times. He also added that a follow-up store in Deira City Centre food court is already in discussion, while branches in Mushrif Mall, Abu Dhabi and Satwa, Dubai are already on its final stages. Badri said they are also looking forward to add more food items on the current menu. She said they are already in talks with Jollibee Philippines about bringing some of the most-loved menu like the breakfast meals and other new product innovations. She added that part of their discussion is bringing Jollibee’s Kiddie Land in Dubai. The restaurant launched its first UAE store in Dubai Mall last year, its 1,000th outlet worldwide. On February 28, 2016 they opened their second branch in MOE; the third branch opened in BurJuman Centre on April 13. UAE netizens were quick to react to Jollibee’s Al Ghurair branch opening as posted on The Filipino Times Facebook page. Jameelah Blanche, tagged her friends on the post and said, “Hataw na!! See you later hehe Sigurado pilahan ‘to!” Geraldine Coprada Balbanida anticipated the hassle in the evening saying, “Maaga pa konti palang tao after work gabi lagot haba pila nyan.” Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of more than 900 stores, according to the company’s website. Its share of the market in the Philippines is greater than that of all multinational brands combined. It has over 80 stores outside the Philippines, including eight in Saudi Arabia, three in Qatar and one in Kuwait, according to its website. Jollibee has 29 stores in the U.S and recently added few more branches in Singapore, which soon enough became its top outlet globally. The Manila-based quick-service restaurant chain, founded in 1978, has become an icon of Filipino fast food.

Philippines · 3 Aug 2016

UAE perfect location to set Filipino favourite Jollibee abuzz

One of the most common sights across Manila and its surrounds is the large, smiling red bee logo of the hugely popular Philippines’ fast-food chain Jollibee. With it being so beloved of the locals, it was only natural that this country should pick up on the chance to give the large number of Filipinos living here a taste of home. "The Filipino population is largely the face of the service industry here in Dubai," says Hisham Al Gurg, the chief executive of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmad Al Maktoum, and the chief investor in the Jollibee franchise in the UAE. "When you arrive at the airport, or at the hotels, theirs are the first smiles you see. If we can return those smiles, that’s a great thing," he says. Now, in partnership with Jollibee, he is expanding the Philippines’ favourite restaurant chain in the UAE, building on the success of the first store that opened in Dubai Mall in May last year. That was followed by the opening of its outlet at Mall of the Emirates late last month. And, he says, among the most important considerations are location, location and location. "Close enough isn’t good enough," he says, adding that the right location determines the restaurant’s success. Mr Al Gurg says this is so critical, in fact, that he and Jollibee have been searching for the right location in Abu Dhabi for more than a year. Fortunately, the team has now identified the perfect plot and the announcement will be public fairly soon. "After that, we will be looking into Sharjah and Ajman. We want to cover all the big cities first – this is where the majority of our customers are," Mr Al Gurg adds. "An F&B [food and beverage] venture is a 10 to 15-year investment, so you shouldn’t just jump into it. You need to study, get advice, and make the right choices." Established in 1978, headquartered in Pasig City, in Metro Manila, the brand is among the most loved in the Asian world. With two diners already open in the UAE, the partnership has another restaurant expected to open at BurJuman mall this month and another four in the pipeline. "It’s an underserved market," Mr Al Gurg says. "We see a lot of other populations being well served, such as the Indian population, but not the Filipino population." Key to the brand’s success is taste and quality, and Mr Al Gurg collaborates closely with its joint-venture partner Jollibee Food Corporation to ensure that these characteristics are on par with Jollibee stores in the Philippines. By combining a number of ingredients from Jollibee’s home country with local ingredients that possess a shorter shelf-life, such as meat and produce, Mr Al Gurg says they have found the right recipe that is also in tune with the local palate. It seems the approach is paying off. "When the Dubai Mall first opened the store, we needed to call in some friendly crowd control to maintain order in the queues," he says. And although the vast majority of the visitors were loyal followers from the Philippines, he says he was inspired by the number of other nationalities that queued up. While this is Mr Al Gurg’s first F&B venture, his wealth of experience in business and unwavering enthusiasm are clear. He has a thorough understanding of foreign investment and also appreciates cultural differences, having studied in Texas as a young Emirati where he learned about business and really started to develop a taste for entrepreneurialism. He emphasises two key components to running a successful business. First is the importance of planning. "Most of the failure in business happens during the planning. People horribly underestimate the importance of this phase," he says. "If you think you know your audience, you don’t. You need to know more. You need to test, test and test again. You can’t just take a successful formula and assume it will work anywhere." Forgetting all assumptions is vital, says Mr Al Gurg, who has spent long months researching the market here in the UAE to ensure that the Jollibee venture will have the best chance of success. Second is the need for continued validation through research: "Most people do surveys and focus groups, but I find these quite old fashioned," says Mr Al Gurg. "They’re not really relevant anymore," he feels. "You need to get into direct conversations with customers. I love going to Jollibee stores and talking with the customers, without giving them the knowledge that I’m an investor. It’s absolutely suicidal to not prepare yourself for the local market in this way." He also cites the importance of working with partners who complement your knowledge and skills. "If I could speak to my younger self now, I’d tell myself to be less theoretical and be more practical instead," he says. "Find someone that knows everything about what you’re interested in. I was tempted with good ideas at the time I believed I could follow through on my own, but instead, the best thing to do is to find someone who knows more than you and learn from them," he says. "Mentorship is critically important." And with that outlook, it is only a matter of time before the capital is buzzing with anticipation of the next Jollibee opening. business@thenational.ae

Philippines · 11 Mar 2016

Smashburger sells stake to Jollibee, burger chain valued at $335M

Smashburger Master LLC, one of the upmarket chains shaking up the burger business, said it agreed to sell a 40% stake to Jollibee Foods Corp. of the Philippines for $100 million. The deal values Smashburger, which has 335 restaurants in 35 states and 7 countries, at $335 million, the companies said Monday. Jollibee is the largest restaurant company in the Philippines, operating more than 3,000 restaurants, including Burger King Philippines. Jollibee said it has been seeking an investment in a U.S. growth brand. Smashburger Chief Executive Scott Crane said that the agreement will help accelerate Smashburger’s international expansion, but that the initial focus is on continuing its domestic growth. Smashburger next year plans to open 80 restaurants, about 10 of them outside the U.S. The deal values Smashburger at far less than the $1.5 billion market capitalization of rival Shake Shack Inc. SHAK, +1.57% which went public in January to much fanfare. Shares of Shake Shack rose sharply through May, but have since fallen by more than half, including a 12% drop last week after the company converted some of its Class B shares into Class A shares to allow pre-IPO investors to cash out.

United States of America · 11 Oct 2015

Jollibee opens its 4th branch in Kuwait -Marina Mall Food court

Finally, Jollibee opens its 4th Branch in Kuwait. Today around 12: a noon Pinoy Favorite fast food chain Jollibee is opened at Marina Mall food court in Salmiya.

Kuwait · 27 May 2015

Long beeline to Jollibee Dubai Mall outlet

Dubai: Die-hard Jollibee fans have created quite a stir on Monday on the opening of the chain's first Dubai store. Jollibee, a popular Filipino-branded burger joint, opened its outlet next to popular global fast-food outlets at the Dubai Mall, to the cheer—or frustration— of hundreds of customers. The store’s smiling bee-like mascot created a buzz, too, at the mall’s food court. The social media hummed with images of tortuous lines of hungry fans outside the outlet on the morning of its May 4 opening. The mall security formed a queue system similar to an airport check-in counter outside the shop to manage the crowd. Filipina Angela Conejero raved on Twitter: "Upon seeing that Jollibee has finally opened in Dubai Mall, I realised there's no reason for me to stay in the Philippines." Some curious onlookers, many non-Filipinos, wondered what the fuzz was all about, and even joined the line. Social media denizens tweeted pictures of the queue snaking past other food outlets nearby. Joey, who works for a Dubai firm, turned up at 8am on Monday— two hours prior to the official opening—and brought home two buckets of “Chicken Joy” for her son’s sixth birthday bash. Lowell, an aircraft mechanic, waited for four hours from 11am before he could have his lunch at 3pm: "For a 'fast food' it's unusual. It was torture." He took orders for his friends, too, but vowed to come back another day when the crowd is gone. Some came all the way from Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital more than a hour by car. The packed outlet resembled a similar atmosphere around the opening of Jollibee stores in Singapore and certain US cities, where the anticipation has created a thrill among Jollibee fans, especially expatriate Filipinos. The Manila-based quick-service restaurant chain, founded in 1978, has become an icon of Filipino fast food. In 2013, it had more than 900 stores, including 101 outlets abroad (29 in the US), according to the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange, where the food giant's shares are actively traded. There are an estimated half a million Filipinos in Dubai, where a second Jollibee outlet is already planned to open in Bur Juman soon. While most people are happy to spend hours on the queue to earn bragging rights of being first to sink their teeth on an authentic Jollibee fare in Dubai, some were turned off by the logjam at the counters. And does the food in its Dubai store taste anything like those in the Philippines? “Yeah, they’re about the same,” said a Filipina mother of two, eager to give her children a taste of Filipino quick-service restaurant. “It’s just the first day…don’t know if they’ll keep it that way.” Lowell said: "It's genuine Jollibee, down to the gravy."

United Arab Emirates · 3 May 2015

New Store Opening

Fahaheel Now Open

Kuwait · 14 Dec 2013

New Store Opening

opens April 5

Kuwait · 2 Apr 2013