20 more Philippine brands keen on expanding overseas

MANILA, Philippines — At least 20 more homegrown brands are planning to debut in the international market, a development which will nearly double the current number of Filipino brands already operating overseas, a local trade association of franchisers said last week.

Sam Christopher Lim, chair of the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), said last week that 20 to 25 Filipino brands have already expressed their intention to expand in other markets.

When asked when this may happen, Lim said: “It’s difficult to give a timeline.”

He spoke to reporters last Friday on the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines Expo at the SM Convention Center in Pasay.

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Joey Garcia, chair of the trade event’s organizing group, noted the challenges in securing a foothold in overseas markets, highlighting that overseas expansion is significantly different from expanding locally.

“When you bring a brand [overseas], ideally you have a local master licensee because you don’t want to deal with 20 or 30 different franchise individuals,” he said, adding that this is the ideal model that many brands are looking for.

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“It’s very difficult to find the right master franchisee. That’s the biggest challenge that we face,” said Garcia, who is also the president and CEO of Eight8Ate Holdings Inc., which manages popular brands Conti’s and Wendy’s.

Meanwhile, PFA council chairman Sherill Quintana noted some major challenges for the local franchising industry when expanding their operations overseas, one of which is the matter of tax incentives.  INQ