Sales from franchising seen to rise 20%-30%

MANILA, Philippines - Sales from franchising are expected to go up by 20 to 30 percent this year to P157 billion as more micro and small entrepreneurs are expected to enter the franchising industry.

In a press conference, Robert Trota, chairman of the Philippine Franchisers Association (PFA) said that aside from election spending that has been fueling the market since last year, the continued increase in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will boost the industry.

According to Trota, OFWs are looking for places to invest their money. He said the current trend for investments in franchising is micro to small which is from P3 million to P15 million. However, he stressed that some franchises are available for as low as half a million.

In fact, for their PFA show in July he said a third of the exhibitors will cater to the micro and small entrepreneurs.

Trota noted that the industry will continue to grow. Last year, it grew by 20 percent as sales were recorded at P121 billion. This data, he said is very conservative given that only 32 percent of the PFA members are included in this figure.

For last year franchising contributed five percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). There are more than a thousand franchise brands in the country with 115,000 outlets. Overseas, there are 17 Philippine franchises with 58.8 percent of which are for food, 23.5 percent retail and 17.6 percent service.

The local brands thriving overseas are Chowking, Goldilocks, Hotshots Flame-Grilled Burgers, Jollibee, Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House, Potato Corner, Red Ribbon, Travel Café and Waffle Time for food. For retail, they are Bench, HBC Home of Beauty Exclusives, Kamiseta and Penshoppe. For service they are Crystal Clear Water, Reyes Haircutters and Systems Technology Institute.