FILIPINO food fans in Bahrain have been sent into a frenzy this week with the opening of their favourite quick service restaurant.
A throng of eager fans have been forming snake-like queues down Exhibitions Avenue in Hoora to sample the fare at the Jollibee outlet.
Eager consumers waited for up to an hour to be served on the opening day, with many taking ‘selfies’ with franchise mascot Jollibee and posting the photos online as they inched closer to the counter.
On the first day alone, the restaurant served a staggering 15,000 customers.
Senior marketing officer for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Billy Junn Tabares, said that the response to the opening was overwhelming and had smashed the sales record for the entire Middle East.
He said: “This is the 18th branch in the region, alongside those in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Dubai, and we are so glad to finally come to Bahrain and provide a service to our customers here. “This outlet has been in the planning stage for three years and we know our customers have been so eager for it to open. We anticipated a high demand based on our previous openings, but we didn’t know it would be quite this crazy!
“I’m managing the Bahrain Jollibee Facebook page and I couldn’t sleep for three days because of the constant notifications. I had to turn my phone off in the end! The acceptance of the community has been really amazing.”
With tongue firmly in cheek, Billy apologised for the huge traffic jams in the area as fans try to find parking spaces. The location, he says, was purposely selected due to the proximity of the large Filipino community in the area.
Billy, who has worked with Jollibee for 15 years and has been in the region for seven, explained: “We are happy to welcome not only the Filipino community, but Arabs and other expats too.
“What makes Jollibee so special is the connection that the community has with it back in the Philippines. It’s a household name; when you were a child and you achieved good grades at school, your treat would always be Jollibee.
“Jollibee is a brand which values family and kids, it’s a place where you can dine with friends while enjoying good food and a terrific ambience.”
Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of more than 750 stores. A dominant market leader in the region, Jollibee enjoys the lion’s share of the local market that is more than all the other multinational brands combined.
Now a growing international fast-food chain serving hamburgers, rice-based meals, side orders and desserts, its burger meals are described as similar to US competitors, but with sweeter sauces.
The restaurant staff in Hoora, all of whom had extensive experience working for Jollibee in the Philippines before moving to Bahrain, dished out favourites such as Champ burgers, Chickenjoy with spaghetti, Fiesta Noodles and HALO-HALO shakes to the clamouring crowd.
One customer, John Paul Catedrilla, travelled all the way from Saar for two days in a row to sample the outlet’s delights, only to be met with extensive queues that he didn’t have the time to wait in.
Finally, third time lucky, he couldn’t contain his delight at being served.
He said: “I’m a huge fan of the franchise, it’s been like a home restaurant for me as I’ve been eating here since I was a kid. It’s so popular back in the Philippines and it’s a major part of our culture, it’s hard to describe.
“My favourite is the Chickenjoy and spaghetti, I know it’s going to be worth the wait. I came quite far to eat here today but I know I’ll be back!”
Hopefully he won’t have to travel as far in future, with at least two more restaurants in the kingdom’s major malls already in the pipeline. With more than 800 outlets worldwide and fans still this keen to sample its fare, it’s hard to see this Jolibee juggernaut being stopped any time soon.
