Filipino fare isn’t likely often served in -25 C temperatures but that’s just what greeted determined fans of fast-food giant Jollibee, which opened its first Canadian location in Winnipeg Thursday.

A few diehards camped overnight and hundreds waited for several hours to get food after the fast-food restaurant opened at 7 a.m. A few even flew in from Saskatoon for the occasion. The Manila-based company (where temperatures were 27 C Thursday, by way of contrast) provided heated trailers to help battle the bone-crunching cold.

Jollibee has something of a cult following for its fried chicken, pineapple-topped burgers, peach-mango pie and sweet-style spaghetti with ham, ground meat and hotdog. Many Filipinos now living in Canada say the food, and the chain’s smiling bee mascot, remind them of home.

 

Jollibee searched for a while to find the right location for its first in Canada, said Jose Minana, Jollibee Foods Corporation’s president for North America and foreign franchise brands.

“We know that there are lots of Filipinos over here and friends of Filipinos who just love to eat. And when we entered into Winnipeg we found it has the highest density of Filipinos (in Canada),” he told CTV Winnipeg while bundled in a parka as diners gave their orders behind him.

More than 60,000 Filipinos live in Winnipeg. One even wrote a song about the restaurant's arrival.

 

 

“Every Filipino wants to be reminded of the taste of home, especially during Christmas, and I think there is no other fast food brand out there that can deliver that but Jollibee," said Maribeth dela Cruz, vice president and general manager for Jollibee North America. The Winnipeg location is the 35th in North America.

A second location in Winnipeg is expected to open next year, along with restaurants in Ontario, in Mississauga and Scarborough. An Edmonton location is slated for 2018.

JFC is ranked as the largest Asian restaurant company in market capitalization, with a total of 3,236 stores globally. It is eyeing North American expansion as the key to achieving its target to be among the top five fast-food chains globally by 2020. It’s now ninth-largest.