Jollibee opens 1st Canada store in NorthAm expansion

Last Dec. 15, Jollibee opened its first store in Winnipeg, Canada, home to over 70,000 Filipinos. The pioneer location was chosen as Winnipeg is home for several Filipinos with Ta­galog being the second-most common language spoken. In typical Jollibee fashion, the store was welcomed by long queues with people lining up as early as 10:30 PM the night before the new store opened. The crowd braved the -25 celsius weather to get a chance to taste a bit of home with Jollibee favorites Jolly Crispy Chicken, Peach Man­go Pie, and Jolly Spaghetti. The store launched Jol­libee’s aggressive North Amer­ican expansion plans until 2018.

The store also cre­ated over 100 jobs for the people of Manitoba. “We are very encouraged by the turnout and excite­ment at the grand opening of Canada’s first Jollibee,” said Jose Miñana, Jollibee Foods Corporation’s Group Presi­dent for North America and Foreign Franchise Brands. “It brings us great joy that we are able to bring a taste of home to Filipinos and a new culinary experi­ence to Canadians,” he said. Social media exploded with posts describing just how happy the Filipino community was over the arrival of a child­hood icon.

An eight year old resi­dent even said, “I’ve been in Canada for eight years and it feels like a touch of home has arrived with Jollibee open­ing in our neighborhood.” This marks the first Jol­libee store opening in Canada and the 35th in North Ameri­ca. Jollibee plans to open next year three more stores in Can­ada, including one in Winnipeg.