Jollibee Foods has set its sights on competing with Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee giant with over 39,000 stores worldwide. Known for its successful fast-food chain in the Philippines, Jollibee has surpassed American rivals like McDonald’s and KFC locally, thanks to its popular crispy fried chicken and sweet-sauced spaghetti.
Under President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong, Jollibee is ramping up its efforts to enter the coffee scene. This comes as the global coffee market experiences strong growth, with revenues climbing 9% to $630 billion in 2023, and expected to hit $800 billion by 2030. In comparison, the fast-food industry saw a modest 1.1% increase in revenue, totaling $978 billion last year.
““It’s a rapidly growing market with huge potential for us,”
says Tanmantiong from a busy Jollibee outlet in Pasig City, just outside Manila, in early July. The day before, Jollibee had announced a $238 million deal to acquire a 70% stake in South Korea’s Compose Coffee, a major coffee player with nearly 2,500 stores. This move boosts Jollibee’s total coffee investments to around $700 million. Tanmantiong’s vision is for Jollibee, the Philippines’ largest restaurant chain by revenue and number of locations, to eventually surpass Starbucks in sales.
With the addition of Compose Coffee, Jollibee will expand its coffee shop count to over 4,700 across Asia, the Middle East, and North America, though it currently operates only 387 coffee shops in the Philippines, compared to Starbucks’ 450. Despite this, Jollibee’s flagship restaurants still drive the majority of its sales, contributing to half of the 244 billion pesos revenue the group reported for 2023. Coffee sales currently account for about 15% of the company’s revenue, a figure Tanmantiong aims to double to 30% by 2030.
This ambitious goal is one of many set by the 66-year-old Ernesto Tanmantiong, who became CEO a decade ago, succeeding his older brother and Jollibee founder, Tony Tan Caktiong. Tony started with a humble ice cream and sandwich shop in 1975 and climbed into the ranks of the Philippines’ wealthiest by 2007. Today, he holds the No. 6 spot with a net worth of $2.9 billion, shared with his family. During his leadership, Jollibee Foods made it onto the list of 200 Best Under A Billion companies twice. Tony continues to serve as Jollibee’s chairman and CTO—Chief Taste Officer.
