EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada, August 19, 2019 – Popular fast-food chain Jollibee opened its first store in Canada’s Alberta province on Friday morning, August 16, to the excitement of thousands of fans who lined up as early as three days in advance to get a first taste. Prior to the restaurant’s front doors opening at 7 AM, approximately 500 customers were already in line, ready with an array of #ItsOurTurn signs to show their enthusiasm for the home of the famous Jolly Crispy Chicken finally arriving in their province.
Twenty-six-year-old Jordan Haworth, the first customer to fall in line, waited for a record three days before the store opened to the public – and he had never even tried Jollibee before! Haworth shared, “When I first set up camp outside Jollibee with my mat and fold-out chair, a few people approached me and asked if what I was doing was real or a stunt. I shared with them that I was inspired by my mom who travelled to the Philippines years ago and used to rave about Jollibee when she came home. My mom joined me as the second person in line and it was such a special feeling to be able to experience this with her. When the doors opened and I bit into my first piece of Jolly Crispy Chicken, I totally understood what all of the hype was about.”
Jollibee fans traveled from as far as Nova Scotia, a nine-hour flight to Edmonton, to get a taste of the brand’s world-famous Jolly Crispy Chicken, which is delicately hand-breaded to be crispylicious on the outside, with a secret marinade that makes it juicylicious on the inside. Additional fan-favorite items on opening day included Jolly Spaghetti, with its signature sweet-style sauce loaded with chunky slices of savory ham and hotdog, and Peach Mango Pie made with real Philippine mangoes enveloped with a flaky golden-brown crust.
“We are thrilled to have arrived in Alberta and are humbled by the enthusiasm we’ve felt from the local community,” said Maribeth Dela Cruz, President of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) North America Philippine Brands. “Alberta has watched as we’ve opened stores in Winnipeg and the Greater Toronto Area over the past few years and the people here can finally say, ‘It’s Our Turn!’.”
The new Edmonton location marks Jollibee’s 5th location in Canada as the chain pursues its goal to grow to 100 stores in the country in 5 years. The brand plans to open its next store in Calgary by this September, making it the second store to open in the Alberta province.
Jollibee is the flagship brand of Jollibee Foods Corporation’s 14 brands. JFC is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant companies with more than 4,500 stores in 21 countries.
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About Jollibee
Jollibee is the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines, operating a Philippine network of more than 1,300 stores. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee has embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan.
Jollibee has more than 200 international branches including in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, and in the United Kingdom.
In North America, Jollibee opened its first store in 1998 in Daly City, California. It now operates 42 stores across the region, in the states of California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Virginia of the United States, and in Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta in Canada.
Technomic has consistently cited Jollibee among its Top 500 ranking restaurants in the United States. It was also awarded as Multinational Corporation of the Year by the Asian Business League of Southern California in 2017.
About Jollibee Foods Corporation
Jollibee Foods Corporation is one of the largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant companies in the world.
It operates in 21 countries, with over 4,500 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), United Kingdom, Italy, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Panama, and Malaysia. It has 8 wholly-owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan and Smashburger), 2 franchised brands (Burger King in the Philippines and Dunkin’ Donuts in certain territories in China), a 60% ownership in the SuperFoods Group that owns Highland Coffee and PHO24 brands.
JFC has investments in Titan Dining LP, the ultimate holding entity of Tim Ho Wan Pte. Ltd. (the Master Franchisee of Tim Ho Wan in the Asia Pacific region excluding Hong Kong); and a business venture with award-winning Chef Rick Bayless to build a Mexican fast-casual restaurant business in the United States. JFC has also recently entered into a joint venture agreement to open Panda Express in the Philippines.
Jollibee Foods Corporation has been named the Philippines’ most admired company by the Asian Wall Street Journal for eight years in a row and was honored as one of ‘Asia’s Fab 50 Companies’ by Forbes Asia Magazine.
Jollibee Foods Corporation has grown brands that bring delightful dining experiences to its customers worldwide, in line with its mission of serving great tasting food and spreading the joy of eating to everyone.