The Philippines hopes to have 50 Filipino franchising businesses around the world within the next three years, Philippine Franchise Association chairman emeritus Samie Lim said on Wednesday.

In a press conference, Lim said Filipino franchising brands would be more aggressive as there are already 20 Filipino franchise brands selling their goods and services in other nations.

“We now have 20 brands internationally, we want to see 30 more brands with this vision of having 50 Philippine brands worldwide,” he said, adding that it will take years to add more Filipino franchising brands to have their presence in the global market.

“It took about 10 years. But we are already now one of the boys, the big guys now,” Lim added.

Smaller footprint brands

Philippine Franchise Association chairman Sheryll Quintana also told the reporters on the sidelines of the event that smaller footprint brands were able to make it to the market after the economy reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

These brands have more flexibility and can locate in towns outside Metro Manila faster because of hyperlocalization.

Speaking about inflation, Quintana expressed her sadness about the lag in agricultural development in the Philippines, despite being a frontrunner in agricultural technology back in the 1960s and 1970s.

She emphasized the need for more food brands to source locally, as this can help beat inflation by reducing the need for imports.

“We’re glad that there is also a lot of partnerships now from the ground in terms of supporting the agriculture sector. We actually want to see more smaller brands, food brands to be sourced locally,” she said.

“At least available in the Philippines kasi we can beat the inflation with that, right? You’re no longer going to import,” she added.

Expand franchising industry

With over 2,000 franchise brands in the country, Quintana hopes to expand more jobs and expand the Philippine franchising industry.

She said that a new regulation is being worked on by the Department of Trade and Industry to create a registry of franchise brands.

“There is Executive Order 169 that was released in 2021. I think 2022, sorry because we were negotiating (with the government),” Quintana said.

Quintana expressed her concerns about the possible impact of regulations on the growth of the industry. She noted that complying with new regulations would entail additional costs and could create bottlenecks for new and startup franchisors.

One of the key reasons for the new regulation is to prevent scams and fraudulent practices in the industry.

Quintana noted that some scammers use franchising as a cover for their business model, which is not actually based on franchising.

The PFA’s public awareness campaign aims to educate the public about the difference between legitimate franchising and fraudulent schemes.