Potato Corner facts for kids
Current logo since 2023
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| Owner | Shakey's Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) |
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| Introduced | 1992 |
| Markets | Southeast Asia, Middle East, East Asia, Oceania, North America, Europe |
Potato Corner is a super popular food chain from the Philippines. It's famous for its yummy flavored French fries! The very first Potato Corner stall opened its doors on October 16, 1992, at SM Megamall in the Philippines. It was started by a company called Cinco Corporation.
By 2022, Potato Corner had grown a lot. You can find their delicious fries in 19 countries around the world. These include the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, Panama, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Kuwait, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and China.
Contents
The Story of Potato Corner
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Potato Corner was started in 1992 by four friends: Jose Magsaysay Jr., Ricky Montelibano, Danny Bermejo, and George Wieneke. Ricky Montelibano was Jose Magsaysay Jr.'s brother-in-law. He was the first to bring flavored popcorn to the Philippines.
Jose Magsaysay Jr. worked at a local Wendy's for nine years. But he needed to earn more to support his family. He got the idea for flavored fries from Ricky's popcorn business. The friends had to borrow money to start their business. They needed ₱150,000, which was about US$6,000 back then.
Jose left his job at Wendy's. The first Potato Corner opened in October 1992. It was a small cart in Mandaluyong. In just 30 days, they earned enough money to pay back all their loans!
Growing the Business
After their first store was a big hit, they thought about letting other people open Potato Corner stores. This is called franchising. At that time, franchising was a new idea in the Philippines. Jose only knew a little about it from his job at Wendy's.
So, their first agreements with other store owners were quite simple. They even copied a document from the internet for their first franchisee! The group raised more money to help their business grow. Soon, Potato Corner became very popular in the Philippines.
Going Global
Potato Corner started to open stores in other countries.
- In 2006, their first international store opened in Indonesia.
- In February 2010, Potato Corner first entered the United States. Their first store there opened in 2012.
- In April 2017, the first Hong Kong store opened in Tsim Sha Tsui.
In 2021, a company called Shakey's Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. bought Potato Corner. This deal was completed in 2022. By 2022, Potato Corner had over 1,100 stores in the Philippines alone! They also had stores in many other countries.
Towards the end of 2022, Potato Corner opened its first store in London, United Kingdom. They also opened their first store in Auckland, New Zealand. And in the United Arab Emirates, their first store opened at Ibn Battuta Mall.
Awards and Recognition
Potato Corner has won many awards over the years. They won "Best Franchisee of the Year" three times in a row from the PFA and DTI. These same groups also gave Potato Corner the "Franchisee Excellence Hall of Fame Award" in 2003. In 2017, they received the "Global Filipino Franchise Award."
Marketing and Advertising
Meet Poco the Mascot
Potato Corner has a fun mascot named Poco. He used to be called Spudster. Poco was first introduced by the brand in 2009. You can see him on all their stores and on their fry buckets. In 2009, Spudster even got a special license for Los Angeles County!
Images for kids
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Former logo used until 2023, but still seen on some packaging.
