“The Philippines is the largest franchise market in the world, contributing 7.8 percent to our country’s gross domestic product [GDP] and creating 2 million direct and indirect jobs,” the Trade chief said in a pre-recorded video message at the Franchise Asia Philippines 2022 Virtual Franchise Conference on Tuesday.
He added that there are two basic franchise categories, but food “expectedly” takes precedence over non-food. The trade chief noted that food makes up 43 percent or almost half of the estimated 1,800 franchise brands in the Philippines. In fact, Pascual pointed out that 90 percent of the food and beverage processing industry’s output is consumed domestically. In turn, he said, the growing consumption contributes to the rapid expansion of the processed F&B subsector.
Non-food franchising trends, he added, cover health and beauty products, affordable indulgences, clinics, laundry services, homeschooling, and microfinance, among others.