Jollibee To Open In The UK And Italy In 2016

Jollibee, the Filipino fast food chain, is opening its first restaurants in Europe in 2016.

The Filipino chain is best known for its crispy fried chicken and spaghetti with ham, sausage, and ground beef.

There are currently locations in the U.S. Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates but Jollibee has plans to expand to Italy and the UK as well as Canada, Malaysia, and Oman in 2016, then to Australia and Japan in 2017.  

"Knowing that Jollibee is well loved among Filipinos, reaching out to them where they are is logical for us," Dennis M. Flores, vice president of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), told Business World Online. "We took a conscious decision in prioritizing, going into markets with significant Filipino populations."

Flores noted that there are over 1,000 Jollibee stores around the world, 130 of them in the Philippines.

JFC is the largest food service network in the Philippines, also overseeing the Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, and Burger King Philippines chains.