Fast food chain Jollibee to open dozens of restaurants in Australia, Prime Minister heralds chain

Filipino fast food chain Jollibee is coming to Australia after clinching two franchise deals to open dozens of restaurants in NSW and Victoria.

Famous for its fried chicken and sweet spaghetti, it is the biggest food chain in the Philippines, outperforming global competitors such as McDonalds and KFC in its home country.

Anthony Albanese declared Jollibee as a “symbol of the Philippines” while announcing its Australia entry on Sunday, and said the expansion was a sign of deepening economic ties between the countries.

“Thirty-five stores, 900 direct jobs, tens of millions of dollars of investment, but as well … the flow-on impact because of the supply chain, will be literally thousands of jobs in Australia,” the Prime Minister told a press conference in Manila.

“And Jollibee also will be a source of pride for Australians of Filipino background.”

Speaking alongside Mr Albanese, Jollibee chief executive Ernesto Tammantiong said “we are proud and excited to mark another milestone in our global journey as we bring Jollibee to Australia”.

“In the Philippines, we have a beautiful word, ‘bayanihan’ — the spirit of the community comes together to help one another succeed,” he said.

“In Australia, you have a similar value that you call ‘mateship’.

“Today, bayanihan meets mateship, united by shared belief, we are stronger together.”

Jollibee already operates almost 2000 locations in 17 countries, with Vietnam hosting the second-most number of restaurants at 200 and the US coming in third at 72.

Among of the chain’s most famous fans was the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

He dubbed it “the wackiest, jolliest place on earth,” describing its sweet banana-ketchup spaghetti with sliced hotdogs as “deranged, yet strangely alluring” and its signature chicken gravy as “sinister brown sauce”.