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Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
February 7, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Roasted chicken chain Mang Bok’s is going big now that it is part of Lester Yu’s Fruitas Holdings Inc., with a new concept set to be introduced to revitalize the brand.
Fruitas is planning to open 20 to 30 stores this year that will be a combination of Mang Bok’s and a new store concept called Bigboks Chik N’ Dips.
Yu told The STAR that the introduction of the Bigboks brand is aimed at beefing up the Mang Bok’s business, which his group invested into late last year.
Fruitas ventured into the roasted chicken segment with the acquisition of a majority stake in the owner of the Mang Bok’s brand for P8.86 million in November 2024.
Mang Bok’s food chain was established in September 2002 and has been a popular choice among consumers for its roasted chicken and pork belly products.
It is now set to further diversify its offering with the addition of fried chicken and other products through the Bigboks Chik N’ Dips brand.
The new Bigboks brand is expected to cater to the evolving preferences of the market.
A pilot Bigboks Chik N’ Dips store is currently located in Quezon City.
“We’re targeting more stores. We plan to expand the brand to restore the vitality of Mang Bok’s because pre-pandemic, we had around 80 stores but due to the pandemic we tried to offer franchises but it did not really work at the time. And now, since we partnered with Fruitas, we plan to open company owned stores again,” Michael Chua, one of Mang Bok’s co-founders, told The STAR.
“Right now, we have stores lined up for Bigboks. Our plan is that for Bigboks, it will be located in mall spaces and in dine-in stores while Mang Bok’s will cater to the kiosks and community stores,” he said.
All of Mang Bok’s store network is currently located in Luzon.
Yu said the group is also looking to expand to other regions, with Cebu seen as Mang Bok’s first potential location outside Luzon.
The acquisition of the Mang Bok’s business marked the Fruitas Group’s entry into the roasted chicken sector, broadening the product offerings under the House of Fruitas.
