KFC targets to open over 50 stores in PHL this year

RAMCAR Food Group’s KFC Philippines said it plans to open over 50 stores this year to bring the brand closer to more provincial markets.

“In 2023, we ended with 382 stores, and we are bound to open more than 50 stores this year because our thrust is to bring KFC closer to our market,” said Charmaine Pamintuan, chief marketing officer of KFC, on the sidelines of the KFC Kentucky Town Music and Arts Festival on Saturday.

“These will be located in the National Capital Region, and some will be opened in provincial areas too,” she added.

To date, the company has already opened about ten stores. Last Friday, it opened a new store at SM Caloocan.

“One of our biggest strengths is actually in malls, and we know that SM is one of our biggest mall partners,” she said.

Ms. Pamintuan also said the Ramcar group plans to expand its farm in Bulacan to support the expansion of the company’s store portfolio.

“We are vertically integrated so that we can assure that from farm to table, it is actually monitored at the highest quality,” she said.

“There are plans, especially as we open more businesses in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. It’s part of something that we are looking at because expansion is one of our thrusts,” she added.

Last year, she said that the company was able to hit its target growth rate, which it aims to replicate this year.

“Coming from the two-year pandemic, we can still see people being excited to go out. So we still see revenge eating and revenge get-together,” Ms. Pamintuan said.

“We know that every time Filipinos get together, it is always with a meal, and we are fortunate that they enjoy having a meal together because KFC has offerings like our bucket meals,” she added.

Other brands under the Ramcar group are Mister Donut, Malcolm’s Place, and Tokyo Tokyo, among others. — Justine Irish D. Tabile