As Scotland has eased mobility restrictions, homegrown fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. will flesh out plans to bring its flagship brand to this new offshore market starting this month.
Jollibee announced that its much anticipated first store in the city center of Edinburgh will open on Feb. 24, to be promptly followed by the opening of another store in Glasgow on March 25.
The two restaurants in Scotland will serve halal meat to cater to all communities in both cities.
In January, Scotland announced the lifting of measures meant to curb the Omicron COVID-19 variant. Large outdoor events like soccer and rugby matches will no longer have crowd limits.
“This is an important moment for us as we introduce Jollibee to Scotland with not only one but two restaurants launching within a month, showing our commitment to expand in Europe. We are looking forward to serving our Scottish customers delicious food in a joyful restaurant experience. We know there are many in Scotland who have waited a long time for Jollibee to arrive, and we’re excited to see the local communities experience Jollibee for the first time,” said Ernesto Tanmantiong, CEO of the Jollibee Group.
Jollibee was attracted by the large student presence and active youth communities in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Philippine brand has reported “huge success among young people looking for new food experiences” in its offshore markets.
In the last 18 months, overall UK sales rose by 417 percent, with Jollibee chicken sandwich and the new spicy Chickenjoy enjoying brisk demand.
“The reception for Jollibee in 2021 gave us confidence that our new store design and locally-relevant menu created specifically for our European audience was working. We are very happy to be opening on one of the busiest streets in Edinburgh and Glasgow and expect to see big queues of chicken lovers at its launch,” said Dennis Flores, president of Jollibee Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia.