Dubai: The Philippines’ homegrown fast-food brand Jollibee is stepping up its presence in the UAE.
The company has just opened on Wednesday its newest branch in Abu Dhabi which is said to be the biggest in the country in terms of seating capacity.
It is the sixth Jollibee outlet to welcome Filipino foodies since the brand set foot in the country in 2015.
The new flagship store at Al Falah Street, which offers more than 150 seats, is the company’s second shop in the UAE capital. The first branch opened only about two months ago, in December 2016, at Mushrif Mall.
“This marks another important milestone in Jollibee’s exciting Middle Eastern journey,” said Dennis Flores, vice president for international markets at Jollibee Foods Corporation.
With the two new store openings in Abu Dhabi, Jollibee now has more than 1,100 branches operating across the globe. The brand has 28 stores in its Middle East portfolio that includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.
Hisham Al Gurg, a franchisee of Jollibee, said he decided to invest in the brand because it has a huge following in the country, particularly within the Filipino community.
“I decided to bring Jollibee to the UAE because of the huge potential I saw it had for the Filipino population here in the country. They absolutely love the brand,” Al Gurg said.
