On Wednesday (24 Jul), Jollibee Foods Corp announced that it is buying up Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for US$100 million.
To acquire the brand based in the United States, the company which is based in The Philippines will be setting up a holding company in Singapore.
No significant changes are expected to happen to either brand.
Jollibee has been trying to increase their sales outside of the Philippines, and acquiring Coffee Bean is a step in achieving this.
Coffee business is set to provide about 14% of worldwide sales for Jollibee.
Some Singaporeans who reacted to the news were a little confused as the amalgamation of both Jollibean and Coffee Bean would logically give us,
Jollibean.
To clear the air, Jollibean is a local chain selling soy-based products like beancurd and pancakes — already an established brand in Singapore.
Others were rather more sassy, inquiring if Jollibee is finally going to “learn a thing or two about coffee”.
Finally, the burning question remains. Is fried chicken coffee going to be a thing?
Some others were unsure as to why a fast food company would be buying up a coffee business.
Actually, the trend has been to for restaurants to buy up coffee chains for a while. For example, UK coffee chain Costa was bought by Coca-Cola last year.
Larger businesses diversifying is not uncommon in the food & beverage industry, and the cafe industry is pretty distinct from the fast food one.
So no, this probably isn’t going to happen.
Jollibee serves fried chicken, Jollibean serves soy milk. You’re welcome.
Featured image from Facebook and Facebook.
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