Jollibee, the world’s largest Asian food chain, is coming to the UK

The world’s largest Asian food chain, Jollibee Food Corporation, is set to open its first ever restaurant in the UK.

The move is the latest step in an aggressive expansion drive by the Philippine company, which already has more than 4000 restaurants worldwide.

Chief Executive Ernesto Tanmantiong said: “We aim to become one of the top five restaurant companies in the world.

“Opening our first store in the United Kingdom brings us one step closer to realizing this vision.”

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The new restaurant will be Jollibee’s second in Europe as, earlier this year, it opened a store in Milan, Italy.

Set to open on 20 October, the new store will be located in Earl’s Court Road, Earl’s Court, London. The location was selected, says Jollibee, because it is historically home to London’s biggest Filipino community.

Currently, 30% of Jollibee’s sales come from stores outside of the Philippines, including sales from both company-owned and franchise stores.

However, according to Nasdaq, the company’s founder Tony Tan Caktiong is hoping to grow that to 50% over the next five years.

Earlier this year, Jollibee took majority control of American burger firm Smashburger, signalling its intentions to further penetrate the North American market.

It also recently acquired 47% of Mexican restaurant concept Tortas Frontera and 45% of Titan Dining L.P, the master franchise holder of the Tim Ho Wan brand.