Asia's largest fast-food company – the hugely popular Jollibee – is set to open its first Australian store, in Sydney. The vacant site of the very last Sizzler restaurant in the country could soon be knocked down, under plans from commercial developer PMG Group, to make way for this Filipino fast-food giant, which has more than 1,500 locations in 17 countries around the globe. After a long campaign to set up shop here, Campbelltown in Sydney's west looks to be the site of the first Aussie outpost of Jollibee.
The plans, which involve the development of three fast-food joints (Taco Bell, Krispy Kreme and Jollibee) on Harbord Road, have consent from Campbelltown City Council until July 2029. That said, no date has been set to knock down the Sizzler building that has been vacant since November 2020, when Sizzler closed the doors once and for all in Australia.
Given the large Filipino population in Australia, and Campbelltown in particular (Filipinos comprise the third-largest population of residents born outside of Australia), this news has been a long time coming. A really long time coming, considering the restaurant’s initial development application was submitted to the Campbelltown City Council in March 2021.
Is Jollibee coming to Sydney, really?
The initial Campbelltown site reportedly fell through due to “some administrative challenges”, which is why things seem to be taking a long time. But it's promising that Jollibee has a 'Business Head for Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia', Dennis Flores, on its team, and he's confirmed that the business had been planning to come to Australia “for quite some time now”. Now, a spokesperson from Campbelltown City Council has confirmed the Harbord Road site’s development consent is active, despite the fact that there is no set date for work to start.
Are there any Sizzlers left in Australia?
No – once a big deal in the 1980s and '90s, Sizzler and its famous fried bread went out of favour as Australia's cafe culture took over. While there were 74 Sizzlers dotted around the country in in the 1990s, there were only 17 restaurants remaining by 2017, before they all closed in 2020 during the pandemic.
What is Jollibee?
Jollibee is known for its ChickenJoy – hand-breaded, fried chicken. And we know there's a big appetite for fried chicken in Sydney – just ask Pappa Flock, the popular Western Sydney chicken-tenders chain that recently landed in the trendy Inner West suburb of Marrickville.
Jollibee has been working aggressively to take ChickenJoy international, as it aims to become one of the top-five restaurant companies in the world. As well as Asia, there are Jollibee stores in the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. It's currently the world’s 13th largest fast-food chain, and there are more Jollibee stores in the Philippines than there are McDonald's stores.
If you've spent time in the Philippines or Vietnam, you may recognise the giant red bee in a chef's hat (a 'jolly bee').
Stay tuned – or buzzed.
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