Highland Coffee and Taiwan's Milksha Share the Same Owner: Jollibee
Vietnam's Highland Coffee and Taiwan's Milksha share an owner: Philippines' Jollibee, which operates local F&B brands across 17 countries.
[Highland Coffee and Taiwan's Milksha Share the Same Owner: Jollibee]
Walk down any street in Vietnam and the red Highland Coffee sign is hard to miss. Ordering a ca phe sua da has become part of daily life. But few people realize that Vietnam's largest coffee chain shares an owner with Taiwan's bubble tea brand Milksha: the Philippine fast-food giant Jollibee.
▍ Highland Coffee's Story
David Thai, a Vietnamese American, founded Highland Coffee in 2000. After a decade of growth, Jollibee Foods acquired a 50% stake in 2012. The Philippine company took hold of the cup — but Highland Coffee kept its Vietnamese identity. Drip coffee, banh mi, and local-style interiors stayed. Customers, both Vietnamese and foreign, kept coming.
▍ Jollibee's Brand-Collecting Playbook
Highland Coffee is not Jollibee's only acquisition in Vietnam. Pho 24, the clean and modern pho chain, is also under the Jollibee umbrella.
Across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Jollibee now owns local food and beverage brands in 17 countries. The strategy: buy promising local brands, skip the build-from-scratch phase, layer on international F&B management expertise, and scale fast.
