Filipino firm Potato Corner to expand in US

Filipino-owned flavored French fries retailer Potato Corner is planning to expand in the US from the current 13 to as many as 1,000 stores in the next five to seven years. “At the present trajectory, this target is highly achievable,” said company CEO Jose P. Magsaysay, Jr. “We foresee that US expansion will outrun Philippine operations in the medium term,” he also said. He added that US revenues could soon exceed the combined incomes from its Philippines operations and those in other countries. The company is planning to put up 87 more branches in the US to bring its number of outlets there to 100. “[O]ur US-based company is on target to reach 100 stores by end-2013, and more than 3,000 stores in 20 years. This is where most of the action will be seen in the coming years,” said Magsaysay. The company, which currently has a total of 307 outlets in the Philippines, the US, Panama, Indonesia and Malaysia, is negotiating for master franchises in Vietnam, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. To help fund the company’s expansion and diversification plans, said Magsaysay, “We can either go public to raise funds or get a strategic partner who is willing to cough up capital for our expansion program in the next two years.” The company expects at least a 12-percent increase in revenues for 2012. — BM, GMA News