The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a vital component of Jollibee’s business, contributing to 41% of global system-wide sales in the first quarter of 2021 | Photo credit: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 

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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) has appointed Sanjiv Razdan as President of its Americas and India markets. Razdan, who has more than 30 years’ experience leading restaurant chains in the US, will be responsible for growing the coffee chain in the ‘high potential’ growth markets, and enhancing the brand’s omni-channel strategy.
 
In a press release, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf added that it had experienced ‘significant growth’ across its grocery and e-commerce business, which have expanded over 50% since 2019.
 
“I'm excited to join this great brand and work closely with the new ownership as we scale and continue to introduce The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand to new markets, and in the process, help advance Jollibee Foods Corp's goal of becoming one of the top five restaurant groups in the world,’ said Razdan.
 
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was founded in Los Angeles, USA, in 1963. In late-2019 the coffee chain was acquired by Filipino fast-food group, Jollibee Foods Corp, as part of a deal worth around $350m in late-2019. The investment gave Jollibee access to CBTL’s 1,055 global store portfolio, the majority of which is located in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
 
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a vital component of Jollibee’s business, contributing to 41% of global system-wide sales in the first quarter of 2021. In May 2021, Jollibee reported a 153m pesos ($3.2m) profit for its first quarter, reversing a 1.7bn pesos net loss in the same period last year, but below the 2bn pesos it made in the final quarter of 2020.
 
“Most of our businesses abroad are reaching sales at pre-pandemic level,” Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said in a press statement.
 
Jollibee’s ambitions in the US and India form part of the group’s wider global growth strategy. In February 2021, Jollibee said it would open 100 Highlands Coffee outlets in 2021, mostly in the coffee chain’s native Vietnamese market, adding that the profitable coffee chain was the group’s fastest-growing business.
 
In May 2021, the company announced plans to open a flagship Jollibee fast-food store in London, UK, as part of a wider $70.6m European growth plan.
 
While the US appears to be recovering from the pandemic with the roll-out of its Covid-19 vaccination programme, it is unclear how The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s handful of Indian stores will fare as the country grapples with a devastating surge in Covid-19 cases that has overwhelmed the healthcare system and severely impacted the economy.