LOCAL French-fries company Potato Corner, which has been aggressively expanding to various parts of the world, will be opening its 1,000th store in August.
At the sidelines of the Philippine Franchisers Association (PFA) briefing on Thursday, Potato Corner founder and Franchise Asia Philippines Expo Chairman Jose P. Magsaysay Jr. said by next month the company will have more than 140 branches abroad.
The expansion has allowed the company to increase its sales by double digits in the coming years. The company has been growing at a rate of 40 percent annually during the past five years.
“Our international operation is gaining momentum. We are seeing a lot of momentum this year and in the next 10 years,” Magsaysay said. “We’ve sold enough French fries to travel the moon and back.”
The company currently has 98 stores in Indonesia, 35 stores in the US and 11 in Thailand. Magsaysay said more stores are on track to open in other Asean countries and in the Middle East.
Magsaysay said the company will open a store in Kuwait and Cambodia in August and that they are looking for partners to open stores in Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Potato Corner is also looking to expand to Europe and Africa, where they can add to their product line according to the tastes and preferences of these markets.
Magsaysay said one of the innovations they have introduced in other countries is nori-flavored fries, which is now being offered in Thailand.
Meanwhile, he said the main selling point for the company is its appeal to children of various ages all over the world.
Parents worldwide allow their children to consume French fries because it is a vegetable-based snack food.
It is also natural for children to reach out to French fries as a snack food because they need energy from carbohydrates in light meal.
“We are most loved by children. In fact, the children who grew up with Potato Corner are now our business partners,” Magsaysay said.
They are taking care of their “most beloved” market because they get to sell their products to a huge part of the population, especially in countries like the Philippines.
By focusing on this market, Potato Corner can also help raise their expansion base in the next 20 to 25 years.
Potato Corner started selling flavored French fries in 1992. The following year, it started franchising its stores. In 2015 it opened its 500th store.
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