Jollibee sees rapid franchise expansion for Smashburger

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April 15, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Jollibee Group is rapidly progressing with the franchise expansion of its US-based burger chain Smashburger, with plans to open 10 to 12 new stores this year.

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) said Smashburger’s expansion, which supports continued network growth across both traditional and non-traditional formats, includes recently awarded sites across key non-traditional locations, with five in airports and one in a university.

JFC reported that a traditional franchised store that opened in Huntersville, North Carolina last February has delivered strong early performance since opening, indicating healthy customer demand.

It said non-traditional franchised formats also continue to perform robustly, benefiting from captive, high-traffic environments such as sports arenas, airports and universities.

Such formats support attractive returns for franchisees, driving increased franchise interest, the company said.

“The sustained improvement in Smashburger’s performance reflects disciplined execution and a clearer value proposition in a competitive market,” Jollibee Group International CEO Richard Shin said.

He said the strong results the company is seeing across franchise formats, particularly in non-traditional locations, reinforce the brand’s scalability and support the asset-light growth strategy within the Jollibee Group’s international portfolio.

“With improving same-store sales and a growing base of high-performing franchise formats, Smashburger is strengthening its role as a scalable, asset-light growth platform within the Jollibee Group’s brand portfolio,” he said.

JFC said Smashburger has also delivered strong gains in average daily sales for company-owned stores, driven by stronger consumer response to its refreshed brand positioning and value offerings.

“We’re seeing a clear shift in consumer response, with higher transaction volumes reflecting improved relevance in our menu innovations and value offerings,” Smashburger CEO Jim Sullivan said.

“Our focus has been simple: serve delicious food people genuinely enjoy, offer value they can feel, and make every visit reliably good. That’s what earns repeat visits—and that momentum shows up in stronger store performance,” he said.

JFC fully acquired Smashburger, a Denver, Colorado-based casual burger brand, in 2018.