Jollibee halts Hotpot store operations in China

MANILA, Philippines — Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the Filipino-owned food conglomerate, has decided to bid goodbye to its 12 Hotpot brand in the People’s Republic of China and will instead focus on other businesses in the Asian country and the rest of the world.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC said its 48 percent-owned subsidiary 12 Hotpot (Shanghai) Food and Beverage Management Co. Ltd. would discontinue operations of the 12 Hotpot brand which has 16 stores in Shanghai.

Instead, JFC will focus on building its larger and fast-growing businesses in China and other parts of the world.

With the discontinuation of the 12 Hotpot business in China, JFC said the operating company would be dissolved and liquidated.

The joint venture started in 2012, when JFC’s wholly owned subsidiaries Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) and Golden Plate Pte. Ltd. (GPPL) entered into an agreement with Wowprime Ltd., a subsidiary of Wowprime Corp. of Taiwan (Wowprime) and some key executives of Wowprime, to establish WJ Investments Ltd.

The joint venture agreement owned and operated 12 Hotpot brand in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

 In the second quarter of the year, JFC’s China sales grew 17.2 percent compared to the same period in 2016 while profit grew significantly versus prior years.

Similarly, its foreign business sales in the same period increased 24.3 percent led by Southeast Asia – excluding Philippines – with growth of 42 percent, North America (32.5 percent) and Middle East (32 percent).

All these regions are profitable and had significantly improved their profitability versus prior years.

JFC will continue to drive strong profitable growth of these businesses, along with the Philippines in the years ahead.