Tag: Fast food

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Domino’s Malaysia–in its desire to create their version of the cheeseburger pizza–launched the Domino’s Double Cheeseburger, its latest offering featuring must-have burger staples into a single pizza, featuring tasty burger toppings and a unique burger crust.

As part of this launch, Domino’s also introduced two playful characters Toppy and Rak Rak, who are representations of the pizza and burger combination in the ‘Find Your Double’ activation whilst handing out free samples of the new Domino’s Double Cheeseburger Pizza.

For this launch, FCB SHOUT, the lead creative agency for Domino’s Pizza Malaysia, kicked off the campaign by teasing the launch of a new Domino’s burger, but the twist at the end ultimately revealed the brand’s surprise new offering.

Linda Hassan, group chief marketing officer at Domino’s Pizza Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia, said, “Inspired by our customers’ feedback, we’ve developed a new product strategy to introduce two burgers in one pizza, specifically designed to be delivered. To top it off, we’ve paired it with Crispy Fries and Loaded Cheeseburger Crispy Fries for the full combo experience. What makes this product uniquely Domino’s is the combination of cheeseburger toppings and a burger-stuffed crust—something that’s never been done before.”

Meanwhile, Boon Chuan Suah, creative director at FCB SHOUT, said, “We knew it wasn’t about the format of a burger pizza but about what makes the product uniquely Domino’s. It’s about conveying to our fans that once again, Domino’s is delivering “More”. In this case, it’s about doubling the delight by having two typical cheeseburgers experiences in one pizza.” 

Manila, Philippines – Jollibee Foods Corporation has recently disclosed that it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Titan Dining LP (Titan Fund) for the transfer of ownership and management of the Tim Ho Wan business from Titan Fund to Jollibee Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd (JWPL). 

This will be effected through the transfer of ownership of 100% of Tim Ho Wan Holdings Pte. Ltd. (TPL), the holding company of the Tim Ho Wan business, from a subsidiary of Titan Fund, to JWPL. Completion of this transaction is subject to closing conditions. After which, TPL shall be consolidated into Jollibee Group’s portfolio and financial reports.

Tim Ho Wan, with around 80 global store footprint across 11 countries, will be the flagship brand for Jollibee Group’s Chinese Cuisine segment. This brand is known for bringing the best of Hong Kong to the world through its world-renowned dishes Barbecue Pork Buns and other specialties such as the Steamed Rice Roll stuffed with Barbecue Pork, Pan Fried Turnip Cake and Steamed Egg Cake.

JWPL has held a 92% participating interest in Titan Fund since January 2024. Accordingly, its cash payment for the transaction shall only be the amount of SGD20.2m, corresponding to the 8% participating interest held by the other investors in Titan Fund. 

Singapore – Fast food chain Chick-fil-A has announced plans to open its first restaurant in Singapore in late 2025, marking the brand’s entry into Asia. The first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Singapore begins with a 10-year long US$75m investment. 

In June 2024, Chick-fil-A Asia Pte Ltd hosted a pop-up event in Singapore to help introduce the brand to the community and gain a nuanced understanding of Guest preferences in the region. More than 1,000 people in Singapore enjoyed an iconic Original Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwich at the three-day experience. 

Through a suggested S$10 donation, attendees helped generate S$30,000 in donations for Community Chest, the philanthropy and engagement arm of National Council of Social Service (NCSS). 

Chick-fil-A’s branches span more than 3,000 restaurants globally. 

Anita Costello, chief international officer at Chick-fil-A, said, “The profound love that Singaporeans have for food as well as the city’s strategic position as a gateway to the Asian market make it the ideal choice for Chick-fil-A’s first permanent restaurant in the region. We are grateful for the overwhelming support and positive response from Singaporeans so far and we look forward to serving them in 2025.”

Local owner-operators of Chick-fil-A restaurants in Singapore will have the opportunity to be part of the ‘Chick-fil-A Shared Table’ food donation program, which feeds hungry people by sharing surplus food with local nonprofit partners to help those who need it most. 

In the United States and Canada, more than 30 million meals have been created for people in need since the program began in 2012. 

Hugh Park, head of Asia-Pacific operations at Chick-fil-A (Asia) Pte Ltd., commented, “We are thrilled to introduce Chick-fil-A to Singapore, bringing new jobs and opportunities as we support the local community. Serving our Guests with high quality food and signature hospitality remains our top priority as we do so. Our unique approach, with locally owned and operated restaurants, will also allow us to better connect with people in Singapore as we provide an authentic Chick-fil-A experience.” 

Manila, Philippines – Philippine fast-food franchise operator Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures (SPAVI) is setting plans to expand its operations in the United States by incorporating a subsidiary in the local market. This was announced in a recent disclosure by SPAVI at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi).

In the disclosure, SPAVI said that the intended principal activities shall include owning and operating stores and franchises, as well as to market Shakey’s Group’s products and brands.

“The incorporated entity will be the Group’s platform in its expansion plans in the territory which will grow systemwide sales, revenues and bottomline internationally via companyowned and franchised stores in the territory,” SPAVI said in a statement.

SPAVI is known for managing and expanding the Shakey’s Pizza brand in the country and across Southeast Asia. Originally founded in the U.S. in 1954, Shakey’s has grown into a family dining restaurant, recognized for its pizza, chicken, and mojos. SPAVI holds the exclusive rights to develop the Shakey’s brand in the Philippines, where it operates hundreds of outlets, and in select international markets. 

Apart from Shakey’s Pizza, SPAVI has diversified its portfolio by managing other popular food and beverage brands. It handles Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, a fast-casual chain specializing in flame-grilled chicken with various sauces, and R&B Milk Tea, a trendy beverage brand originating from Singapore, known for its milk teas and fruit-based drinks.

Philippines – Jollibee is once again creating emotions with two new #MyKwentongJollibee short videos, ‘30 Dates’ and ‘To Love Again’, which are intended to capture the spirit of love this Valentine’s season. The beloved brand continues to strive to tell true love stories by sourcing narratives directly from the people involved, imbuing the films with authenticity and passion.

The short films “#MyKwentongJollibee: 30 Dates” and “To Love Again,” directed by Paolo Villaluna, follow two real-life couples as they negotiate the challenges of life and love.

“In ’30 Dates,’ the story centres on two friends, Kristian and Coleen, who have very different views on love. Kristian wants to start his own family, while Coleen is doubtful and believes that love only exists in movies and television. 

In celebration of Coleen’s birth month, Kristian decided to treat her to 30 days of meals at Jollibee, knowing it was her favourite spot. Will this heartfelt and unique gesture ignite a deeper connection and significance within their friendship, or will it potentially lead to an awkward situation between the close companions? 

The story of Hazel, a single mother who had closed off romance and devoted all of her time and energy to her child, is told in “To Love Again.” Ronald, on the other hand, was instantly drawn to Hazel upon first meeting her. 

Ronald was eager to show Hazel that he was sincere, even in the face of resistance from her family, because he felt deserving of her affection. Despite the scars from her past, can Hazel have the strength to accept Ronald and open her heart again? 

Speaking about the films, Dorothy Dee-Ching, marketing head at Jollibee Philippines, said, “We all have our own Kwentong Jollibee – from memorable birthday celebrations, to going on a first date, and even that unforgettable marriage proposal. While there’s no doubt that Jollibee has impacted the lives of so many Filipinos throughout the years, we’re still pleasantly surprised with the stories that we’ve received. What better way to tell these stories than by letting the real people themselves share their own stories in their own words, thus the birth of #MyKwentongJollibee.” 

She added, “From hundreds of stories, we hope that these two heartwarming tales will touch your hearts and inspire you to share the joy of love this season.” 

Meanwhile, NJ Mijares, group creative director of McCann Worldgroup Philippines, said, “The challenge for this year’s My Kwentong Jollibee is to find stories with topics that people will want to discuss with their peers. We feel that this is a step above what Kwentong Jollibee is and what it means to people. Because apart from just watching true stories, we now give them the opportunity to participate by sharing their own thoughts and feelings.” 

Paolo Villaluna, director of “30 Dates” and “To Love Again”, said, “For us Pinoys, Jollibee is already part of our daily lives: for every celebration of love, family or success, Jollibee is the emotional language we use to express ourselves. Being able to capture that in films was truly fulfilling not only as a filmmaker but as a human being.” 

Singapore – Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., (JWPL) has announced an increase in stake with private equity fund Titan Dining LP which owns the Tim Ho Wan brand and company-owned stores.

In a recent stock filing by the corporation, JFC said that its fund size of Titan will increase from its current S$350m to S$450m in order to fund the store expansion plans and working capital requirements of Tim Ho Wan and the completion of other projects by the equity fund.

Moreover, JWPL’s participating interest in Titan will also increase from 90% to 92% through purchase of 2% participating interest of another limited partner in the fund for a total consideration of S$7.7m. 

With the increase in fund size, JWPL’s total commitment to the fund shall amount to S$414m.

It is worth noting that JWPL has invested S$45m with Titan since 2018 to own a 45% participating interest in Titan. It then increased its capital commitment to S$120m and its fund size increasing from S$100m to S$200m in 2019.

JFC has also a joint venture with Titan for the operation of Tim Ho Wan in China, as well as the operations of Tiong Bahru Bakery and Common Man Coffee Roasters in the Philippines through Titan’s Food Collective, Pte. Ltd. (FCPL) subsidiary.

Mumbai, India – McDonald’s India (West and South), owned and operated by Westlife Foodworld Ltd., has launched its first-of-its-kind ‘EatQual 2.0’ initiative that makes McDelivery more inclusive with a new colour-blind-friendly ordering platform.

The campaign initiative aims to make food ordering more enjoyable and easy for colorblind consumers in India.

In this new initiative, McDonald’s India launched a new feature on its McDelivery app and website that uses a special algorithm to display the menu in colours that are appropriate for the user. The new feature will help colour-blind people see the real colours of the food and drinks, helping them make more informed decisions about what they want to order.

The newly updated feature can be accessed by users when they update the McDelivery app and website. Individuals who are colour blind can select from three colour enhancement options: ‘green-red’,‘red-green’, and ‘blue-yellow’

Also included in the campaign is the release of a heartwarming brand film that will give the viewers a perspective on colorblindness and explain how this feature on McDelivery will help consumers with colorblindness improve their experience of viewing their food on the McDelivery app and website before placing an order.

To ensure a wider reach of the campaign, McDonald’s India has partnered with stand-up comedian and influencer Kenny Sebastian, who also has colorblindness. They also tapped advertising company DDB Mudra, who has been present since EatQual’s inception, to strengthen this global purpose platform around inclusion.

The fast food chain’s new campaign is rooted in the idea that there are a huge number of people in India who are actually colorblind but go unnoticed. This campaign is an extension of their EatQual initiative in 2020, which aims to improve accessibility and inclusivity for people with various disabilities.

The brand launched the initiative on World Sight Day, raising awareness about the campaign through a panel discussion featuring renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Hemalini Samant, Mr. Aniruddh Kothari, a photographer who is also colorblind, and Mr. Arvind R.P., Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s India (W&S).

Speaking on the campaign, Arvind R.P., chief marketing officer at McDonald’s India (W&S), said, “We at McDonald’s are on a mission to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone, and we literally mean ‘everyone’. Born from this mission, our EatQual campaign underscores our commitment to breaking down barriers, ensuring that every customer is able to access the brand easily, feels welcome, and has a great experience every time they choose to eat with us.”

“Recognising that we ‘eat with our eyes first’ and acknowledging that colorblindness is a widespread reality, we took the initiative to make our McDelivery app and website more accessible. We hope those with colorblindness will enjoy using this new feature to see the crave-able visuals of their favourite iconic products before ordering, just like all other consumers,” he added.

Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at DDB Mudra Group, also shared, “We’ve always believed that EatQual is more than just a campaign; it’s a journey that McDonald’s is on. With every intervention, we hope to enhance the eating experience, making it a little more equal for everyone. That’s why we work closely with the community to help us understand what they might be missing and how we can bridge that gap.”

Meanwhile, on the partnership, Kenny Sebastian said, “I feel really happy to partner with an iconic brand like McDonald’s on this initiative that makes its services more inclusive and easily accessible to colorblind people like me. I am sure the McDelivery experience will now be easier to navigate through. I look forward to using the feature to view delicious food images on the app before making my pick”.

Thailand – WPP creative company Superunion has partnered with Minor Food’s The Pizza Company, Thailand’s largest restaurant group, to develop a dynamic new identity for its Chick-A-Boom pop-up stores and home delivery offer. 

The new brand’s symbol, a non-binary mascot, ‘Chickira’, is created to celebrate the inclusiveness and diversity of contemporary Thai youth culture and to express the story of a brand where ‘everyone is welcome’.

Chick-A-Boom, known for its flavourful sauce and crispy fried chicken, has launched 15 pop-up stores across the country in an experimental ‘shop-in-shop’ format with The Pizza Company of Minor Food, sharing the space within the nationwide branches and complementing the pizza menu.

Superunion said the launch of the supercharged Chick-A-Boom brand and unconventional mascot, ‘Chickira’, was a deliberate move to disrupt the saturated fast food category dominated by Western brands. The design of Thailand’s first non-binary mascot, ‘Chickira’ aims to celebrate the diversity integral to contemporary youth culture as they shake their way into the hearts and minds of the Thai nation.

Superunion led the concept and name creation, brand identity, mascot and in-store experience design.

Kittichet Sathitnoppachai, AVP of Marketing at Minor Food, said, “We tasked Superunion with developing a brand and mascot that is big, bold and utterly unforgettable and it’s safe to say they delivered that in spades. The new brand identity along with ‘Chickira’ has worked perfectly in-store and equally translates seamlessly into the digital space as we look to expand our presence.”

Sathitnoppachai added, “Thailand has a vibrant and vocal LGBTQ community, and a reputation for its awareness of gender, inclusivity, and equality. Chickira was created to ‘ruffle feathers’ in the fast food category and change the game among traditional fast food mascots, most of which are predictable, male and tired.” 

Korrakot Kulkraisri, senior brand strategist at Superunion Thailand, commented, “The fast food landscape in Thailand has taken an enormous hit from the pandemic. Brands not only need to constantly present themselves online and provide seamless in-store experiences, they also have to actively reach out to customers in ways that are meaningful to their lives.”

Kulkraisri added, “Superunion’s core purpose when building brands is to find ideas that create positive and impactful change, and we are proud to bring this energetic brand and larger-than-life ‘Chickira’ to Thailand – a symbol of openness, inclusion, fun and love.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Fast food chain McDonald’s in Indonesia has released a new ad for its new burgers–but with a twist of convincing people to taste a burger from a different part of the world instead of just promoting it as is.

The ad, conceptualised by Leo Burnett Indonesia, the film features real, relatable moments in a witty and heart-warming manner, as well as dedicated to those who are left behind, stuck at work, nursing injuries or grounded by inclement weather.

The campaign is directed by Kiran Koshy of Directors Think Tank in Malaysia. 

Ravi Shanker, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett Indonesia, said, “This was the challenge posed to the team at Leo Burnett. A couple of brainstorms later, we stumbled upon an insight. Indonesians too were bitten by the travel bug. However, not everyone can travel because life in the form of financial constraints, work pressure, family commitments or climate change was getting in the way. While travelling was a possibility in the future, right now many were missing out.”

Meanwhile, Michael Hartono, director of marcomm, CBI and digital at McDonald’s Indonesia, commented, “Taste of the World’ has always been a great platform for McDonald’s and we always look for fresh, new ways to drive relevance. We are all observing how after two years, everyone really wants to experience the true flavours of the world by travelling – but for those of us stuck at home due to practical realities, we really wanted to establish that this delicious menu is available from the comfort of your homes.”

Manila, Philippines – Tropical Hut, a long-time Philippine-based fast food chain, has seen a revival these past few days, causing a massive organic marketing boost brought by a slew of customers and food delivery riders. It was all thanks to a viral tweet that has since then catalysed the hunt for their nearest Tropical Hut branch.

It all started with a tweet from stock analyst JP Tanyag, who visited a Tropical Hut branch located in Escolta at the City of Manila. In the tweet, he exclaimed that he was the only customer there. Despite the business being slow, he also stated that the fast food chain has retained most of its menu items despite being faced against big fast food chains locally.

For context, Tropical Hut was first established in 1962, and served fast-food items, including rice meals and burgers. They also served fast food versions of Filipino dishes such as palabok and tapa.

As of this writing, Tanyag’s tweet has over 7,000 retweets and over 34,000 likes. Comments regarding his tweet have ranged from nostalgic tweets of them sharing meals with their parents to commenting how the price and food quality are ‘worth it’.

Numerous tweets have popped up online, showing how packed the Tropical Hut branches are.

https://twitter.com/marianboneo/status/1538548492083560449

There are also tweets showing how several food delivery riders flocked Tropical Hut branches amidst growing numbers of orders for the fast food chain’s items.

Even popular superapp Grab in the Philippines jumped into the trend to host a giveaway–which turned out to be a full-on Tropical Hut meal.

Following the surging popularity of Tropical Hut, the chain’s official Twitter account thanked everyone for the support, and also reminded customers to patiently wait for their orders, as stocks for popular items such as their burgers are low on stock.