AFTER opening its first overseas expansion in Qatar recently, homegrown Bo’s Coffee will temporary shelve its plan of opening in foreign markets until 2020.
This is because Cebuano entrepreneur Steve Benitez plans to hit 200 branches in the country first in the next two years.
This year alone, he is eyeing to open 20 to 24 branches. At present, Bo’s operates 102 branches in the country.
“The Qatar opening was long overdue. Finally, we have opened it. Our partners there are planning to open three to five more branches. We are happy to hear that despite minimal marketing, the coffee shop there is doing well. However, the plan is to grow the brand locally first before we expand aggressively in other countries,” said Benitez.
The Cebuano entrepreneur also announced they recently altered their franchising system by offering two franchise categories—the regional and territorial franchisees.
Benitez identified Luzon as the focus area for expansion, driven by high population and high spending power.
He said consumption in the country has risen as more Filipinos embrace the culture of coffee drinking outside their homes.
Benitez attributed the growth of his coffee chain to the brand’s “homegrown brew”.
It sources its coffee beans from the highland farmers of Sagada and Benguet in the Mt. Province, Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon, Mt. Apo in Davao and Mt. Matutum in Tupi, South Cotabato.
Benitez’s business started in Cebu in 1996.
As coffee consumption continues to rise, Benitez who is a member of the Philippine Coffee Council, said there’s a need to boost the country’s coffee production and support the decreasing number of coffee farmers.
According to Benitez, the Philippines has yet to satisfy the local market demand, the reason they are still importing some of its coffee bean requirements.
Demand for coffee in the country stands at 100 metric tons (MT) per year. However, the coffee farming community can only supply 30 MT per year.
Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the Philippines imports from 75,000 MT to 100,000 MT of dried coffee beans from Vietnam and Indonesia annually at a cost of P7 billion to 10 billion.
Under the Philippine Coffee Roadmap, the country is expected to raise coffee production to 214,626 MT by 2022. This will bring the country’s coffee self-sufficiency level to 161 percent from the current 41.6 percent.