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Tag: Philippines

  • Fast food chain Jollibee to open 100 Canadian stores

    Fast food chain Jollibee to open 100 Canadian stores

    Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee Food Corporation plans to open 100 stores in Canada within the next five years.

    The company says it is eyeing the wave of new locations because the country is a key growth market and a big part of its North American expansion plans.

    Jollibee attracted long lines of customers when it entered the Canadian market in 2016, opening two Winnipeg locations and a store in Scarborough, Ont. over the last three years.

    It hopes to expand further in Ontario, but is also exploring stores in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

    Its aggressive expansion comes as international interest in Filipino food is rising and as Canada is attracting an increasing number of restaurants serving such food.

    Jollibee’s Filipino fare includes spaghetti in a sweet sauce, crispy chicken, burgers and peach mango pies.

  • Garmin Philippines reports positive growth

    Garmin Philippines reports positive growth

    Active lifestyle smartwatch Garmin Philippines will introduce its expanded line to the Philippine market and open another location this year in Vertis North Mall Quezon City and its first-ever branch in Mindanao at the SM Lanang Premier (Davao).

    Garmin Philippines (Navco Inc.) president Ryan Tan says the expanded range is made for any kind of lifestyle, whether for everyday or for adventures.

    “Before, Garmins were primarily used by hardcore runners, triathletes and adventurers. In IronMan events almost 80 per cent of athletes use Garmin. Now Garmin has evolved into a lifestyle watch brand.”

    He says it looks like a normal everyday analog watch but with smart wellness features. The Vivomove HR, for example, is a hybrid smartwatch with a discreet touchscreen. It features a crystal touchscreen with a discreet display. Precision hands show the time and dynamically move away when the user swipes through their messages, heart rate and more. It counts the user’s steps and calories while monitoring wellness, including all-day stress tracking plus the relaxation-based breathing timer.

    The US brand has also introduced multisport watches such as Forerunner® 645 and the DescentTM Mk1. Up to 500 songs are built in to the Forerunner® 645 Music, which also offers smart notifications plus the ability to send prewritten responses to text messages, automatic uploads to the Garmin connect app and the ability for others to track your runs with the LiveTrack feature.

    Meanwhile, the Garmin DescentTM Mk1 is a do-it-all dive computer, the first of its kind to pack surface GPS navigation with full-color onscreen mapping and location reference. On top of that, it features an algorithm that alerts you when you’re beyond your dive limits.

    Meanwhile, Garmin is launching the Garmin PH Community on Facebook for Garmin users and fans in the Philippines.

    Garmin opened its first concept store in Glorietta 5 in 2014, followed by outlets in Uptown Mall BGC, SM North Edsa, The Podium, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Aura Premier and Alabang Town Center.

  • Cebu Pacific adding flights to Cebu’s new ‘resort-airport’ terminal

    Cebu Pacific adding flights to Cebu’s new ‘resort-airport’ terminal

    Cebu Pacific will increase flights to Cebu by 20 percent next year, the airline’s chief Lance Gokongwei said Thursday as the Queen City of the South inaugurated its new “resort-airport” terminal.

    The new 65,500-square meter Mactan-Cebu International Airport Terminal 2 is expected to cater to 12.5 million passengers annually, airport officials said in a statement.

    “Cebu Pacific will be adding aircraft here so we can serve the growing tourism industry, probably 20 percent at the minimum next year,” Gokongwei told ABS-CBN News.

    The country’s largest carrier will also come up with special packages “to celebrate” the opening of the new airport and to entice passengers to choose Cebu as the point of entry to the Philippines, Gokongwei said.

    Cebu Pacific will also “add more routes to North Asia to serve the big market in China, Korea, and Japan,” he said.

    Gokongwei said the budget carrier also intends to reach 22 million passengers by the end of 2018, 3 million seats higher than the 19.4 million seats Cebu Pacific sold last year.

    Cebu Pacific is also eyeing more flights to Panglao in Bohol and San Vicente in Palawan in 2019, Gokongwei said.

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  • Off-White Is Opening a New Store In Manila, Phillippines

    Off-White Is Opening a New Store In Manila, Phillippines

    After the opening of designer Virgil Abloh’s store in Vancouver, Off-White has finally announced its next location will be Manila in the Philippines.

    It will be the first Off-White retail store to open in Asia for four years.

    An official announcement via Instagram shows August 1 as the date for the probable opening. The store will be in Hidalgo Drive, Makati City.

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  • American ATM provider bullish on Philippine expansion

    American ATM provider bullish on Philippine expansion

    The American company which has deployed more than half of all automated teller machines in the Philippines remains bullish on its expansion in the country despite the increase in cashless transactions made possible by electronic commerce.

    Diebold Nixdorf, the market leader of self-service banking technology in the Philippines that serves more than 40 banks with 11,500 ATMs or 58 percent of the total nationwide,  believes that it is well positioned to support the industry’s expansion.

    It has a team of over 400 associates around the Philippines, while its service call center team supports over 250 field techs through a dedicated helpdesk and an in-house depot repair center in Makati. It established its presence in the country in 2003 to take advantage of the growth potential in the banking sector where 70 percent of households did not have bank accounts.

    Diebold Nixdorf Philippines president and country manager Julius Servando says the Philippines is a growing market for the company. A study by consulting firm RBR predicts that the country will see a rise in ATM deployment by 48 percent to 29,400 terminals by 2022, from the current 19,851 terminals.

    “What sets us apart from other competitors is our ability to service ATMs and use terminals outside the metros because we do have engineers in those areas 7/24,” Servando says.

    Servando says the company is also instrumental in bringing the government aid closer to the country’s less unfortunate families who benefit from the conditional cash transfer program of the Social Welfare Department.

    Diebold Nixdorf is also one of the first companies to bring in financial solution to Tacloban City after the devastating typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas in November 2013.

    “We were the first to set up an ATM terminal in the province when the Philippine government needed the support of a financial solutions provider like us. They believed in us and we delivered,” says. Servando says that in the retail sector, the Philippines is still far from closing the gap with other countries in the Asia Pacific in terms of e-commerce sales. Data show that of $140 billion in total retail sales in 2017, e-commerce sales accounted for only $3.9 billion or 2.1 percent.

    “We have seen mobile penetration contributing to an increase in the e-commerce transaction. We can expect Philippine e-commerce to grow though not as fast as in other markets in Asia. Growth will be measured by the limits of infrastructure on hand and some issues on online security,” Servando says.

    “Given this situation and the innate fear of Filipinos to shop on the net especially cashless buying, we see the potential of physical stores still growing. They will be needing support from solution providers like us. We continue to see growth in 30 years,” he says.

    Diebold Nixdorf will soon introduce the use of QR codes and biometrics in automated transactions as well as for retail.

    A local bank plans to adopt the technology to provide better security for its clients. Deibold is celebrating 15 years in the Philippines with a host of new solutions for both the banking and retail sectors.

    Globally, Diebold Nixdorf has the presence in over 130 countries, supported by 15,000 service members and 1,900 software experts.

     

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  • Cebu Pacific offers cross-bookings to Maldives, Berlin and Athens

    Cebu Pacific offers cross-bookings to Maldives, Berlin and Athens

    Cebu Pacific and 7 other allied low-cost carriers relaunched their website on Wednesday, with the Filipino airline offering a seat sale to Athens, Berlin and Male in the Maldives.

    The Value Alliance website offers cross-sales among its members including Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, Jeju Air, Nok Air, NokScoot, Vanilla Air, Tigerair Australia, Scoot and Tigerair Singapore, the airline group said in a joint statement with the Philippines’ largest airline.

    Passengers who book through the website get re-accommodation in case of flight cancellations. Those affected by flight disruptions can also book hotels through the website for up to a certain amount, according to a joint statement by Cebu Pacific and the airline group.

    “This will not only give our customers access to the best deals, but will also allow them to enjoy ease of booking paired with seamless connectivity,” said Value Alliance chairman and Cebu Pacific chief executive adviser Mike Szucs.

    A special seat sale for Athens, Berlin and Male for as low as P7,472 will run from Wednesday until Thursday, according to the statement.

    A check on the Cebu Pacific website showed that flights to the three destinations could be booked without leaving the portal. For flights to Athens and Male, passengers need to fly to Singapore where they will take a connecting flight on Scoot.

    Value Alliance is the fourth largest airline alliance in the world according to the joint statement, with a combined fleet of 180 aircraft and 50 million annual passengers.

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  • Toast Box to launch new concept

    Toast Box to launch new concept

    Toast Box Philippines, the Singaporean restaurant chain known for its kaya toast, eggs, and coffee sets, is closing – but plans to re-open with a new concept.

    Announcements at its Manila branches have cited tomorrow as the final day of trading in the Philippines. “We want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your patronage for the past 10 years. It has been a privilege and a delight serving you.

    “We will be renovating our stores and will reopen with a new brand. We hope to see you back in our stores very soon.”

    Toast Box is one of several food retail brands owned by Singapore’s BreadTalk Group. Others include Bread Society, BreadTalk, Din Tai Fung, Food Republic, So, The Icing Room and Thye Moh Chan.

    However a Toast Box Philippines marketing executive has confirmed the company will close its Manila branches then introduce a new concept, “Nanyang”, which will offer Asian favourites. It will launch at SM Aura in Taguig on June 1.

  • Robinsons Place opened in Ormoc City

    Robinsons Place opened in Ormoc City

    Robinsons Malls has strengthened its presence in the Visayas region with the opening of Robinsons Place Ormoc, a three-level, full-service mall in Ormoc City.

    It offers a variety of national and global brands along with the chains of Daiso Japan, Handyman, Robinsons Department Store and Robinsons Supermarket.

    Its products and services extend to health and beauty, gadgets, banking, courier and government-related processes and requirements with its Robinsons Malls Lingkod Pinoy Center.

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  • Del Monte seeks to raise up to $333m via IPO

    Del Monte seeks to raise up to $333m via IPO

    Del Monte Philippines Inc, the wholly-owned Philippine subsidiary of global branded food and beverage firm Del Monte Pacific Limited, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to P17.55 billion (about $333 million) via an initial public offering (IPO).

    This would mark the second IPO in the Philippines so far this year following the approval by the SEC of the IPO application of construction and property developer DM Wenceslao early this month. The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is still optimistic of having eight IPOs in the entire year.

    In a statement released on Thursday, the SEC said it has approved Del Monte’s IPO, which involves 587.437 million secondary shares to be sold at P29.88 ($0.57) per share. This represents 21 per cent of the firm’s outstanding capital stock.

    “The company will not directly receive any net proceeds from the offer… no amount of the proceeds will be used to reimburse any officer, director, employee for services rendered, assets previously transferred, money loaned or advanced, or otherwise,” the country’s corporate regulator said.

    Del Monte Pacific earlier said it intends to use the proceeds from the offer to partially prepay or repay certain loan facilities.

    “The balance of proceeds, if any, will be used for general corporate purposes. The prepayment of such loans will allow the Del Monte Pacific Limited Group to deleverage and strengthen its balance sheet,” Del Monte Pacific said.

    According to the SEC document, about 70 per cent of the offer shares is earmarked to be sold to domestic investors, while the remaining 30 per cent will be sold to foreign institutional and retail investors.

    Del Monte Philippines is engaged in the production and sale of food and beverage products – such as fruit juices and juice drinks, packaged pineapple and mixed fruit, various tomato, spaghetti sauces and culinary mixes – in the Philippines under the Del Monte brand and exports these products under the S&W brand.

    It also operates one of the world’s largest fully-integrated pineapple operations and has been growing and processing pineapple for over 90 years.

    The PSE expressed confidence that at least eight IPOs will be conducted this year even as only two firms have filed IPO applications with the SEC so far – Del Monte and DM Wenceslao.

    The PSE posted a net income of Php825 million ($16 million) for the full-year 2017, an increase of 18 per cent from the Php702 million it generated in 2016, according to the unaudited consolidated financial statement posted on its website.

  • Ride-Hailing Firm Go-Jek to Expand Abroad

    Ride-Hailing Firm Go-Jek to Expand Abroad

    Indonesian ride-hailing and online payment firm Go-Jek on Thursday said it would enter Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines in the next few months, investing $500 million in its international push.

    The move will start with ride-hailing services before expanding to other sectors, Go-Jek said in a statement.

    “People in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines don’t feel that they’re getting enough [choice] when it comes to ride-hailing,” chief executive Nadiem Makarim said in the statement.

    The announcement comes after Uber Technologies Inc sold its Southeast Asian operations to local competitor Grab.

    Go-Jek said it was working with regulators and other stakeholders across the region to prepare for the new operations.

    The expansion follows Go-Jek’s latest round of fundraising, which brought investment from companies including Astra International, JD.COM, Tencent and Temasek.

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  • Cebu Pacific Air deepens Japan presence with first branch office

    Cebu Pacific Air deepens Japan presence with first branch office

    Cebu Pacific Air has opened its first branch office in Japan to serve as the hub for all its activities and business transactions in the country.

    Heading the office in Chou-ku Tokyo is Tomohiko Matsumoto, who was appointed country manager for Japan in December 2017. A veteran in the travel and aviation industries with over 25 years’ experience, he served as country manager and international air cargo manager for Qatar Airways and more recently, as sales and marketing manager for Japan for Tigerair Taiwan.

    The airline’s first Japan branch office has an address in Chuo-ku, Tokyo

    Mike Szcus, chief executive adviser at Cebu Pacific Air, commented that the airline’s new branch office in Japan will bring the airline into the “next stage of growth” in the market, which is today “one of the most important across our network”.

    “In 2017, we flew over 435,000 passengers between the Philippines and Japan. Compared to the (size of the Japan outbound market), there is much room to grow,” noted Alex Reyes, vice president for cargo at Cebu Pacific Air.

    Now on its 10th year of operations in Japan, Cebu Pacific Air operates a total of 70 flights a week between Japan and the Philippines. Cebu Pacific Air flies between Manila and Narita, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as between Cebu and Narita, utilising its fleet of Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft for these routes.

    Aside from B2B and B2C transactions such as group reservation services, ticket sales and customer support, the Japan brance office will also drive marketing strategies and promotional activities of Cebu Pacific Air in the country.

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  • Jollibee re-enters Guam with new Restaurants

    Jollibee re-enters Guam with new Restaurants

    Jollibee, the largest and most popular fast food chain in the Philippines, is re-entering the Guam market with the ongoing $2 million construction of a restaurant within the Micronesia Mall compound in Dededo. The restaurant is expected to open by early 2019.

    The restaurant is being built within the parking area of Micronesia Mall, by the corner of Marine Corps Drive and Army Corps Drive. Construction began in March.

    Construction cost is $2 million and the permit fee is $12,820, based on copies of the Department of Public Works building permit posted on a barrier wall at the construction site.

    Construction of a Guam branch of Jollibee, the most popular fast food chain in the Philippines, is ongoing within the vicinity of Micronesia Mall in Dededo.
    Haidee Eugenio/PDN

    Isagani Baluyut, owner of Isagani Baluyut Construction, on Monday said his company has a one-year contract to build the Jollibee restaurant. Baluyut said he is not privy to the restaurant’s actual opening date but his company’s construction contract ends in April 2019.

    Jollibee started as an ice cream parlor

    Jollibee, known for its Chickenjoy, hamburgers and sweet-tasting spaghetti and its iconic red bumble bee mascot, used to have restaurants on Guam and Saipan but declining sales forced the branches to close.

    An international Jollibee franchise applicant is required to have a minimum net worth of $5 million, according to Jollibee’s corporate website.

    Jollibee started in 1975 as an ice cream parlor that evolved into a burger chain, and has become the largest fast food chain in the Philippines. It has also embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan in the United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei.

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  • Philippines AirAsia targets 70-aircraft fleet by 2028

    Philippines AirAsia targets 70-aircraft fleet by 2028

    Chief executive Dexter Comendador tells FlightGlobal that PAA will operate 22 Airbus A320s by end of 2018, and add five new aircraft annually between 2019 and 2028. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that PAA now operates 20 A320s.

    Should the plan proceed as planned, the airline will have a fleet of around 70 jets by 2028.

    The chief executive however notes that the airports in the Philippines, such as those in Manila, Cebu and Kalibo are slot-constrained, and that PAA is hence looking at building up Clark for its growth.

    “I chose to go to Clark because I have room for my 50 new planes. Definitely in Manila, I cannot place my 50 planes. Manila is too full,” says Comendador.

    “Moving forward, Clark will be established as the LCC hub of the Philippines. With the development of Clark, we hope to do something like what Thai AirAsia executive chairman, Tassapon Bijleveld did with Bangkok Don Mueang airport.”

    He adds: “The challenge is for the infrastructure to be able to cope with the order of planes that will be coming in. Cebu Pacific ordered planes, so did Philippine Airlines, which will be delivered within the next 5 years. That will be a lot of planes coming into the Philippines.”

    He also does not rule out PAA taking some of the 100 A321neos that AirAsia Group has on order. This is especially since the airline may need to upgauge its flights due to slot constraints at the airports.

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  • Golden first quarter for Shakey’s Pizza

    Golden first quarter for Shakey’s Pizza

    Pizza parlour chain Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures grew its first-quarter net profit by 6.4 per cent to PHP184 million (US$3.5 million), even as higher input costs tempered the impact of double-digit growth.

    Shakey’s grew its first-quarter systemwide sales by 10 per cent to PHP2.2 billion. This was mainly attributed to a 2 per cent growth in same-store sales and a continued store network expansion strategy.

    Meanwhile, the company says earnings growth has been curbed by cost pressures relative to the previous year.

    “We continue to face a competitive environment, but this has been mitigated by the success of our marketing initiatives and the efforts we have made to improve the overall Shakey’s brand experience,” says president/chief executive Vicente Gregorio.

    For the three months to the end of March, the company grew total revenues by 6 per cent to PHP1.8 billion.

    During the quarter, Shakey’s added four outlets to take its nationwide store count to 212. It intends to open another 16 branches and is on track to taking its total Philippine store network to 228 by year end.

    Gregorio says the company is taking the brand to more locations beyond Metro Manila.

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  • AirAsia ‘working’ to fly to new Palawan paradise

    AirAsia ‘working’ to fly to new Palawan paradise

    AirAsia is waiting for the government to provide the adequate infrastructure so that it can fly to San Vicente, the latest Palawan municipality to catch tourists’ attention. San Vicente’s nearly 15-kilometer white sand beachfront is one of the emerging beach destinations in the Philippines after Boracay Island was closed to tourists in late April.

    As of last month, most tourists would have to take either a chartered flight or a 4- to 6-hour trip by land from Puerto Princesa City to reach San Vicente’s famous Long Beach.

    “We’d like to fly to San Vicente, Palawan but the runway is still short,” AirAsia Philippines President Dexter Comendador told reporters here.

    Comendador said they have been working with the provincial government of Palawan to develop the airport so that more tourists can enjoy the attractions of San Vicente.

    “We’ve been working with them. Our plans are still based on how fast infrastructure can cope, how fast they can lengthen the runway,” he said.

    The search for the next Boracay: San Vicente, Palawan.

    AirAsia, however, is careful not to open too many flights to an island destination that may lead to the exploitation of an area, the airline’s chief Tony Fernandes said.

    “The Borcacay closure was a great eye-opener for us. When we go to a new business destination, we make sure that the infrastructure can take a wave of tourists,” he said.

    The government earlier banned tourists from entering Boracay for 6 months as the island undergoes a half-year clean-up and rehabilitation.

    The island is expected to open by late October, or as soon as the government completes its road widening projects, sewage clean-up, and the recovery of wetlands and forestlands in the island.

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