KFC to pour P1.13B into VisMin area

A fastfood chain is investing P1.13 billion to open 45 stores in the Visayas and Mindanao area in the next five years.

Chacha Calma-Juinio, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Philippines general manager, said last week during the reopening its Ayala branch at the Cebu Business Park,  that the firm was banking on the economic growth of the Visayas and Mindanao region for its expansion plans.

“We plan to grow with 300 outlets nationwide in the next five years which means we will be adding 90 stores more. Half of that will be in the VisMin region,” Juinio said.

The firm will invest from P20 million to P25 million for every store it will open.

“We are seeing a lot of activities going on in the regional areas outside of Metro Manila and we’d like to grab that opportunity. We are looking in all areas in the region especially places like Cebu, Davao, Cagayan which have been noted for its robust economic growth,” she said.

Junio said the fastfood company had eight outlets in Cebu and it was planning to add for more outlets in the next two to three years.

“Next year we are opening in SM Consolacion and looking for other more sites that we can open,” she said.

Aside from their expansion plans, KFC also recently introduced its new concept store model which featured a new ordering and claiming system, which the firm claimed to be a first in the Philippines.

“It’s first being piloted here simply because we have the biggest in terms of number of people that we serve daily. Estimated transactions we do here is about a thousand everyday which is huge,” she said.

Juinio said the renovations alone done on the outlets would cost P8 million.

“We call these the ‘Bucket Attitude New Model Store’ and at present we have already done renovating 15 outlets nationwide and we will be ending 2011 with 24 renovations and about 40% of our 210 stores will be renovated within three years period,” Juinio said.

Aside from quicker service due to the separate counter stations for ordering and food claiming, the new system also features zones for every type of customer they serve.

“We have the fun and family zone for customers who are in no rush and just eating with friends and family, the fast and friends area with a mobile charging station and a photo booth for those who are in the rush and just eating out with officemates for lunch beaks. There’s also the speed and tasty zone for on-the-go customers,” she said. /Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap