Jollibee Foods Corporation sets sights on Indonesia after CBTL acquisition

The Philippine fast food giant hopes to get 50% of sales from overseas within three to five years.

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is looking to enlarge its presence in Indonesia, using newly-acquired US chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) as its entry point, according to one of its top officials.

"One thing that might emerge and very interesting is Indonesia," chief financial officer Ysmael Baysa told Reuters in an interview. "Coffee Bean gives us an immediate presence in Indonesia and also gives us a platform on which we can further expand our business there."

Baysa’s statement is in line with JFC president and head of international business for Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia Dennis Flores’ earlier statement that they are looking to enter Indonesia through its core strategy of identifying non-Filipino markets with “significant potential”.

(Also read: Jollibee's global expansion plan is being guided by these two main strategies)

Jollibee’s US$350m buyout of CBTL was their biggest foreign acquisition to date, and its second coffee brand after buying Highlands Coffee in Vietnam. The money-losing coffee chain has 101 outlets in Indonesia among its 1,189 branches across 27 countries.

Baysa says JFC is eyeing a turnaround of Coffee Bean to make it profitable in 12-18 months. Last year, the chain posted US$313 million in revenue and a net loss of US$21 million.