MANILA, Philippines--Jollibee Foods Corp. is poised to aggressively expand its affordable, quick-service fast-food brand, Manong Pepe, as it bets on shifting consumer taste for cheaper quality food due to soaring commodity prices.

Manong Pepe, which serves low-priced homestyle Filipino meals, is embarking on an aggressive double-digit store count by the end of this year.

Manong Pepe president Rufino dela Rosa said the Jollibee business unit was expanding its stores to 12 by the end of 2008, from just one store opened last July 2007 at the Edsa Central Mall in Mandaluyong City. Manong Pepe currently has two more stores--one in Alabang and another on East Avenue in Quezon City.

"Manong Pepe caters to lower C and upper B markets. Typically a store will be profitable at P40,000 a day. It is a small operation and the customers are those who eat everyday. We are the top of mind for call center employees, taho vendors, jeepney drivers. Our focus is on Filipino food," Dela Rosa said.

So far, of the nine stores to be added, Dela Rosa identified six new locations--Lawton Avenue and Dapitan Street both in Manila, RCBC Building in Makati, Edsa Cubao bus terminal in Quezon City, Recto Avenue in Manila, and San Joaquin in Pasig City.

Manong Pepe will spend roughly P27 million or P3 million for each of the additional nine stores.

An average meal with rice and free soup costs between P39 and P49. A value or solo meal with rice, viand, free lumpia, free soup and a soda costs P57.

Manong Pepe features Filipino favorites such as adobo, caldereta, laing and picadillo. It also serves Filipino desserts such as halo-halo, maja blanca, bibingka and ginataang bilo-bilo. Three new products are added each week such as nilagang baka, bopis, bistek tagalog, sinigang na bangus, sinigang na baboy, Bicol express and kare-kare.