In China, Jollibee favors noodles over hot pot

Fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. shut down its hot pot dining business under the 12 Sabu brand in mainland China in order to focus on its bigger brands.

12 Hotpot (Shanghai) Food and Beverage Management Co. Ltd., which was 48-percent owned by JFC, operated 16 stores under the 12 Sabu brand. The stores were mostly in the Shanghai area.

This initiative continued the streamlining of JFC’s businesses in China, following its divestment of the 72-store noodle restaurant chain San Pin Wang at the end of 2016.

“JFC will focus on building its larger and fast-growing businesses in China and other parts of the world,” the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The Filipino fast-food operator’s flagship business in China is noodle house chain Yonghe King, one of the most well-known non-Western restaurant chains in China. There are 305 stores under this business.

JFC also owns congee restaurant chain Hong Zhuang Yuan with 44 stores and Dunkin Donuts with 18 stores.

The group also operates Happy Bee Foods Processing Co. to supply products to its restaurants in mainland China.

The 12 Hotpot business had not been consolidated in JFC’s financial statements and store count as it owned less than majority of the joint venture.

This business was set up in 2012 in partnership with Taiwan’s leading restaurant operator Wowprime Corp.

With the discontinuation of the 12 Hotpot business in China, the holding firm and joint venture vehicle with Wowprime will likewise be dissolved and liquidated.

As of end-September, JFC already operates a total of 3,644 stores worldwide, of which 2,756 are in the Philippines.