Filipino Fried Chicken Takes Flight

Jollibee, No. 86 on the Southeast Asia 500, dominates the Philippines' fast-food market, keeping even McDonald's at bay.Now its $4.4-billion-in-revenue parent company wants to compete on a global scale. Will rapid expansion and aggressive dealmaking be enough?

- NICHOLAS GORDON

THERE MAY BE NO BUSIER PLACE in Hong Kong on a Sunday than the Jollibee restaurant on Connaught Road. Nestled between skyscrapers in the city's Central District, the Filipino fast-food outpost is packed. At lunchtime, there's no place to sit. Customers are waiting to pounce on a free chair as soon as one opens up.

Sunday is a day off for the city's domestic helpers-most of whom are Filipino. Dozens of them are crowded in the basement of this outlet to socialize with friends and post on social media. The room is so loud you have to shout to be heard. The gathering spot also offers them a taste of home.

"It's about the chicken," says Mary, a Filipino domestic helper who's worked in the city for a decade. "It's crunchy and juicy." She also loves Jollibee's spaghetti, a pasta dish featuring ground beef and hot dog slices slathered in a signature sweet red sauce. "Taste is all that matters."

Jollibee is an icon in its home country and among the Filipino diaspora. Founded in 1978, Jollibee won over diners in the Philippines by serving hamburgers and fried chicken-its "Chickenjoy" makes up 30% of all orders as well as dishes with more local flavor like its spaghetti.

What started as a single restaurant in Quezon City, outside Manila, is now a global operation called Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) that has over 6,800 locations and earned $4.4 billion in revenue in the 2023 fiscal year, landing it at No. 86 on Fortune's inaugural Southeast Asia 500 list.

JFC has grown by serving its core customers-Filipinos― the world over. Its flagship Jollibee brand has 1,240 restaurants in the Philippines and another 420 in other countries.

JFC has also expanded by acquiring brands in Southeast Asia, the U.S., and China whose outlets serve pizza, Cantonese dim sum, Filipino barbecue, Taiwanese bubble tea essentially a globally diversified portfolio of comfort foods.