KFC ramps up expansion via SM malls

MANILA, Philippines — KFC Philippines, through its franchising arm, is now reaching more customers nationwide, with SM malls serving as its gateway to key provincial areas. KFC’s expansion via franchising received a big boost with the signing of a deal with Big Bucket Ventures Inc., which is now opening KFC branches in SM malls outside of Metro Manila.

In early April, KFC and Big Bucket Ventures, Inc. welcomed customers to the new KFC store at SM City Roxas, the first outlet of the quick-service restaurant – known for its well-loved original chicken recipes – in the city.

“We welcome Big Bucket Ventures, Inc. into the growing KFC Philippines network and through our partnership, we look forward to opening more KFC branches in SM Malls, two of them potentially slated this year,” said Yvette Roldan, franchise management director at KFC Philippines.

Roldan noted that the partnership with Big Bucket Ventures, Inc., just like with the other KFC sub-franchisees, is opening up fresh employment opportunities to residents of these provincial areas.

“We are also becoming more accessible to our customers. With the opening of the KFC branch at SM City Roxas, for instance, the people in Roxas City are saying they don’t need to travel to Iloilo anymore,” said Charmaine Pamintuan, KFC Philippines chief marketing officer.

“For Panay island, we now have branches in Boracay, Antique, Iloilo, and then Capiz. We are now looking to open a store in Kalibo.”

KFC currently has 42 branches in the Visayas-Mindanao area, with about 60 percent of them situated in malls.

“Aside from mall locations, we are also actively pursuing partnerships with sub-franchisees with sites that are feasible for free-standing drive-thru store type. This set-up may equally have good revenue potential with longer operating hours, and they can serve the market for drive-thru, delivery, and take-out,” Roldan said.