Asia-Pacific

Jollibee to build its 1st commissary in China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-28 11:25

MANILA - Philippine fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. plans to build its first commissary in China this year.

The company told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., signed an agreement with Singapore-firm Hua Xia Harvest Holdings Pte. Ltd. to undertake a food manufacturing operations to supply products to food service businesses of the Jollibee group of companies.

In line with the joint venture, both firms set up Jollibee Foods Processing Pte. Ltd. which is 70 percent owned by the Philippine company while the rest is held by Hua Xia.

"As the initial project, the joint venture plans to build and operate a food processing plant in Shucheng county in Anhui province. This commissary will supply the products for the restaurants of Jollibee in China," Jollibee said.

Jollibee currently does not operate a commissary in China and depends on third party suppliers for its products supply. The joint venture company will infuse 50 million yuan ($7.37 million) in the facility and expects production to start within 2011.

Shucheng's proximity to the supply of agricultural products that will be used for the restaurants of Jollibee made it an ideal place for the commissary. Anhui is also among the top agriculture provinces in China.

The Jollibee group currently operates two businesses in China - Yonghe King with 177 stores located mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan regions; and Hong Zhuang Yuan with 49 stores scattered all over Beijing.

Jollibee is also set to own 55 percent of San Pin Wang next year via a joint venture it entered into last April. San Pin Wang is a restaurant chain with 34 stores in Nanning, in South China.

Currently, Jollibee operates Philippines' largest fast food network and is likewise present in other countries like the US, Brunei, Vietnam and Dubai.