TAGUIG CITY, Philippines – TH Coffee Services Philippines Corp. – the joint venture of Restaurant Brands International, Inc. and businessman Enrique Y. Yap, Jr. – will have opened nine stores less than four months since opening its first within Uptown Bonifacio in Taguig City.
“We have big plans,” Mr. Yap, who heads TH Coffee Services as chief executive officer, noted during an interview on the sidelines of a cocktail celebration on Feb. 27 for the opening of the first Tim Hortons in the Philippines and Southeast Asia the following day.
By June, the joint venture will open Tim Hortons in UN Square in Manila; The Link and Insular Life Building in Makati City; Venice Grand Canal Mall and Net Quad in Taguig City; Eastwood in Quezon City; Blue Bay Walk in Pasay City; and BF Homes in Parañaque City.
“So, our guests can expect that we’ll be opening near them very soon,” Mr. Yap said, without disclosing the total number of stores that TH Coffee Services intends to open under the master franchise.
To accelerate its expansion, the joint venture has the option to sub-franchise Tim Hortons although Mr. Yap noted that may take time “because we want to ensure that if and when we franchise, we want to make sure that our franchisees make money and there’s still a lot of setting up to be done.”
Restaurant Brands International announced its partnership with the group of Mr. Yap in late July 2016. The joint venture was formed to hold the master franchise for Tim Hortons, the same arrangement adopted by the Ontario-based firm in franchising Burger King.
“As far as I know, a number of people have been trying to get the franchise a long time, several years back prior to my group,” Mr. Yap noted. “It took us about a year to do it — it took a lot of preparations and we had to make sure that we understood the market.”
The first Tim Hortons store in the Philippines offers about 90% of the food and beverages being sold in Canadian outlets. Its menu will eventually include a number of “localized” products and more ice-blended drinks.
“Our R&D (research and development team) here and Canada are working very hard to make innovations that will appeal to the local market so that we will not disappoint them,” Mr. Yap said.
Just like other coffee shop operators, TH Coffee Services puts premium on ambiance. Its first store, which spans 200 square meters on the ground floor of Uptown Place Mall, features the latest design that other Tim Hortons outlets worldwide will soon adopt.
“It’s your second home to relax. It’s obviously very cozy and somewhere you can relax after a stressful day and unwind and enjoy a coffee or snacks,” Mr. Yap described the store design.
“Tim Hortons sources the best coffee and Filipinos love coffee and doughnuts and various baked goods. We did a good amount of research and we are confident that we’re going to grow in the Philippines,” Mr. Yap added.
Keith Richard D. Mariano
