What to know about Jollibee’s Australia plans

The fast-food chain may open first outlet in Campbelltown, Sydney

Philippine fast-food giant Jolibee Foods Corp. (Jolibee Group) is reportedly seeking to enter the Australian market with its first outlet in Campbelltown, Sydney.

Jolibee is planning its outlet with commercial developer PMG Group.

The plans would see the existing Sizzler structure in Harbord Road demolished to give way to three separate buildings for the Philippines fast-food chain and Taco Bell and Krispy Kreme.

The plans currently have development consent from Campbelltown City Council until July 2029.

What is Jollibee?

Jollibee is the flagship brand of Jollibee group that operates over 10,000 restaurants across 19 brands in 33 countries. It is famous for its signature fried chicken ChickenJoy, burgers, and sweet-style spaghetti.

The Jollibee Group’s international expansion started about 25 years ago, and it involved setting up shop in locations with big Filipino communities like the US, the Middle East and the UK, David Beal, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Jollibee, told QSR Media in a past interview. It also targeted some Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

“We were initially seeking to bring them a taste of home,” he said in a Zoom interview, referring to Filipinos overseas. “We were empowered by the fact that there is a large and passionate diaspora of Filipinos around the world.”

This approach initially worked, but to propel further growth, the brand needed to widen its customer base beyond the Filipino diaspora. For the past eight years, Jollibee Group has shifted its focus to attracting a broader customer base from the general population.

“When you look at markets like the US, what we see is we have a much greater proportion of customers in the Jollibee restaurants who represent the general population as opposed to Filipino customers,” Beal said.

The group announced plans to open 800 restaurants, which include Australia.

The chain’s international expansion started about 25 years ago in locations with big Filipino communities like the US, the Middle East, and the UK.

Fast food was the top-most ordered cuisine in foodpanda, the delivery giant said in its year-end statistics report. Jollibee's Yumburger was the most ordered menu item for the year.

A year ago, it teamed up with Landor in launching its first-ever global loyalty programme, starting with its rollout in North America.