Jollibee brings Panda Express to PH

Fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. is bringing America’s largest family-owned and operated Chinese food chain Panda Express to the Philippines, diversifying its food retailing portfolio

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, JFC announced that it had entered into a 50-50 percent joint venture with Panda Restaurant Group Inc. to bring the brand to the local market. The partnership seeks to introduce to the local market American Chinese food, a globally-influenced cuisine inspired by authentic Chinese culinary principles.

In its initial phase, the partnership intends to focus on developing five stores in Metro Manila.

“We feel fortunate to be partnering with a company that has a history of growing and adding significant value to its new businesses,” said Andrew Cherng, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Panda. “We look forward to tapping into JFC’s market expertise to grow the Panda Express brand into a household name in the Philippines and, more importantly,

actioning our shared value of inspiring people to better their lives.”

JFC chair Tony Tan Caktiong said: “We are thrilled about this  relationship between Panda and JFC. Starting from a single restaurant in a California mall to becoming a restaurant chain of over 2,100 stores, Panda Express is a strong brand with a growing global footprint. Very much in line with JFC’s brand portfolio, it has excellent tasting dishes at reasonable price points. Long-term, Panda Express has a high potential for broad acceptance across the country.”

Panda Express is best known for its wide variety of original recipes including its original orange chicken, sweetfire chicken breast, honey walnut shrimp and Shanghai angus steak.

Founded in 1983, Panda Express now has more than 2,100 locations throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, Guatemala, El Salvador, Aruba, Canada, Mexico, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Japan, and Russia. Its operator Panda Restaurant Group is the world leader in Asian dining, with other brands such as Panda Inn and Hibachi-San in its portfolio.  /muf