Jollibee opened a new Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Shanghai’s Changning district last July 11 to a long line of customers. This marks the third branch of this popular restaurant brand in the mainland.
Three more branches of Tim Ho Wan are set to open by September in strategic locations in Shanghai’s Hongkou, Jing‘an and Minhang districts, JFC said in a press statement on Monday.
“We’re thrilled to continue expanding the Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan in mainland China. We are targeting to open 100 restaurants within the next four years,” said JFC China president Shirley Chang.
Located in Nanfeng City Shopping Mall, the new Tim Ho Wan branch is a few minutes’ drive from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, which ranks among the busiest airports in China.
The new branch features two floors and an alfresco dining area. It can accommodate up to 126 customers.
A food retailing powerhouse in Asia, Jollibee holds a controlling stake in the fund that owns Tim Ho Wan, which offers authentic Hong Kong dim sum at affordable prices. This investment is part of JFC’s global brand diversification and store expansion program.
JFC opened the first Tim Ho Wan branch in China in September 2020.
This year, JFC plans to open about 450 new stores across various restaurant brands here and abroad, funded by a record-high capital expenditure of P12.2 billion.
With the global economy seen to return to normalcy by 2022, JFC expects to open at least 500 stores every year, returning to a pace seen before the pandemic.
With China and the US recovering faster from the pandemic, international business is seen driving sales and profit growth. JFC currently derives 40 percent of group-wide revenues from overseas businesses.
As of end-May, JFC operates 17 brands in 33 countries, consisting of 5,815 stores worldwide, of which 3,209 are in the Philippines. It is operating 402 stores in China, 347 in North America and 531 through SuperFoods mainly in Vietnam.
JFC first invested in the Tim Ho Wan franchise in 2018. JFC also operates Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan and Dunkin’ Donuts brands in the mainland.
