US-based Duck Donuts on the hunt for Filipino franchisee, wants Philippines to be its Asian hub

American doughnut shop chain Duck Donuts is looking for a partner to franchise and grow its brand in the Philippines as it expressed intent to set its Asian regional supply chain hub in the country.

At the sidelines of the Trade Winds ASEAN 2023 Reception in Makati City on Thursday evening, Duck Donuts global franchise development executive Marcel Portmann told reporters the company wants to enter the Philippine markets because “our competitors are here.”

“[It’s] good for us because that means people are buying donuts and they like donuts. I would be concerned if none of our competitors are here,” Portmann said.

The Duck Donuts executive said the doughnut franchise chain is on the hunt for “a partner to take all of the Philippine market with an agreed development plan.”

Portmann said the Philippine partner should agree to open no less than eight stores and grow the number of stores eventually.

“We need someone who can prove to us they can open at least eight stores. We don’t do single store operations. We would franchise the eight stores. At some point if the group here wants to sub-franchise they can but they need to first open the initial set of stores that we’ve determined,” he said.

“Our agreement [would be] a 10-year agreement. By that time we reached half the term we should have all stores opened… by the five years we should have the eight stores,” he added.

Portmann said the Philippine partner should have an existing food experience that wants to complement an existing brand with a desert category.

“Very important, they have real estate knowledge. How to get good sites, negotiate leases,” he said.

After the trade mission and if Duck Donuts finds a partner in the Philippines, Portmann said the first store in the country could be opened by the fourth quarter of this year or first quarter of 2024.

The Duck Donuts executive said the company is also planning to make the Philippines as its regional supply chain hub in Asia.

“We are looking for a regional supplier or a local supplier. We own the recipe, it's a vanilla cake mix. The opportunity we have in the Philippines is if we can create the mix here we can supply to neighboring countries. Because you have an attractive labor market, production, you speak English,” Portmann said.

“There’s so many reasons why the Philippines might be a good regional hub for us. But, it depends on the partner too,” he said.

“Supply chain for us is very important so we will work towards having a regional and even a local supply chain in Asia,” he added.

Unlike its competitors, Portmann said Duck Donuts’ products are made fresh and customers can see how the doughnuts are being made..

“We are the evolution of the product, which is the donut… you have to tell us what you want. You have to choose your own icing, sauce. You can go as crazy as you want,” he said.

“You can see the entire process. How donuts are made,” he said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News