PANDA EXPRESS in its US home celebrates National Orange Chicken Day on July 15, and the Philippines is in on the fun too.
Throughout the month of August, the celebration comes with special offers for Orange Chicken lovers. Guests can enjoy 10% off with a minimum spend of P699 featuring Orange Chicken, available at GrabFood. At its SM Megamall branch on Aug. 17, decorated window decals, a claw machine, and a giant takeout pail for photo-ops were also featured. Coupons will also be made available for freebies along with every order of Orange Chicken in-store.
“It’s our No. 1 flagship product,” said Karole Santos, Marketing Head for Panda Express in the Philippines, in an interview with BusinessWorld during the launch at SM Megamall. Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) brought Panda Express to the country in 2019 through a joint venture (JBPX Foods, Inc.) with the US-based Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. “It’s been there (on the menu) for years. We just thought of putting a spotlight on it.”
The promotion also serves as a celebration for the brand itself. “Panda Express Philippines has been in the market for quite a while. We were thinking to celebrate the brand and some of the roots that we’ve started implanting in the market. We thought of doing it through Orange Chicken,” said Ms. Santos.
Its US parent, which is partly responsible for the mainstreaming of Asian-American cuisine in the US, claims to have first introduced Orange Chicken in 1987 — a citrus-based rendition of sweet-and-sour Chinese dishes.
While Orange Chicken is of course available here, we asked Ms. Santos if they have Philippine exclusives on the menu. She named two: Salt and Pepper Pork and Beijing Sweet and Sour Pork. Both were scheduled for a limited time release but proved so popular that they were made staples on the menu, she said. “It’s really a journey of trying to understand, and learning from the market what we need, what does it take to win in this region, or in this country,” she said. “There is opportunity to continue to tap into more flavor stories that we think can better sell with the Filipino audience.”
Q2 WOES
Things haven’t been too rosy recently. Jollibee Foods Corp.’s amended quarterly report, filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange on Aug. 14, showed that Panda Express closed one store and opened none during the first half of 2026, bringing its store count to 27 at the end of June 2026 from 28 at the end of December 2025.
JFC recognized a P78.608-million share in the net loss of JBPX Foods, Inc., its 50%-owned joint venture with Panda Restaurant Group, during the first half of 2026. JBPX itself incurred a net loss of P157.216 million during the period, more than triple the P47.522-million loss recorded in the first half of 2025.
JFC’s share of the loss in the first half of 2026 also exceeded the P54.746 million it recognized for the full year of 2025.
Sales growth, meanwhile, was modest. JBPX’s revenue increased by 0.6% to P686.425 million in the first half of 2026 from P682.143 million in the same period of 2025. JFC’s brand data showed that Panda Express’ systemwide sales rose by 0.6% in the first half of 2026, although they fell by 3.1% in the second quarter. Same-store sales grew by 2.9% in the first half and by 0.2% in the second quarter.
“I think context is everything,” Ms. Santos told BusinessWorld. “I think what we need to appreciate would be the journey by which Panda Express is also learning in the market. In that learning journey, we have turned around so many stories for the brand.
“First of all, sales is something that we have celebrated over the recent two years in terms of coming out from some declines here and there. Now that we’ve corrected that, I think it’s quite clear that there are other parts of the business that we also need to fix,” she added. “Maybe that’s the larger context by which it needs to be laid down as.”
“The (profit and loss statement) is not perfect at this point. We’ve corrected the topline so far. The bottom line follows next. We’re in that learning journey. We’re in that learning period.”
She remains optimistic. “The future is still bright for Panda Express, especially as we embrace some of these wins. We’re saying that we have turned around the business in terms of sales. We are now slowly showing signs of growth and comeback. We will still expand.”
However, future expansion will have to be strategic.
“It’s more of being selective and strategic about where those confluence(s) of people that resonate with Panda Express truly are, so that we can bring the brand to that next level,” she said. “The larger malls, the larger convergence areas would be what’s next and what we should target for Panda Express.” — JL Garcia
