MANILA, Philippines – Casual dining resto Joey Pepperoni, one of the rising players in the casual pizza parlor industry in the Philippines, expects to double the number of its existing outlets, as it sets to open one more branches aside from the five new stores already in operation — a feat it has achieved in only less than three months.

Adding more stores in various locations fortifies Joey Pepperoni’s status as an up-and-coming performer in Philippine-owned pizza franchise businesses in the country.

It is now set to open a franchise store in SM Baguio, and a corporate-operated branch in SM Calamba.

Since the pizzeria began in 2005, Joey Pepperoni currently has about 23 locations, including the recently opened branches, such as company-operated stores in DBP Building in Makati Avenue, SM Lipa and SM Tarlac, as well as franchise, like the OneE-comCenter or SM Corporate Center in Pasay City.

Joey Pepperoni has seen aggressive growth in 2010, considering there were only 17 existing stores at the start of this year.

From opening an average of two to three outlets annually in the past years, Joey Pepperoni launched about seven stores in 2010.

With the burgeoning market of franchising in the Philippines, Sr. Marketing Officer Carla Villanueva projects that the company’s thrust is to reach 50 branches by the end of 2011.

The positive response we’ve been getting is really exciting. We have franchise inquiries from Metro Manila and nearby provinces, but we’re surprised that we also heard from far cities, like in the case of SM Baguio,” Villanueva said, “In fact, talks about opening a new branch opportunity in Davao are also underway.”

Villanueva accounts Joey Pepperoni’s rapid store increase to its affordable franchising fee and simple franchise investment process.

Joey Pepperoni also focuses promotional efforts aimed at the young professionals demographic via advertising, participation in trade shows, and through their company website.

Meanwhile, the restaurant, which serves signature Italian-American thin-crust pizzas in a wide array of flavors, panini (sandwiches), pasta, insalate (salads), riso (rice meals), and desserts, including gelato, has extended its well-received “Pizza, Pizza: Two pizzas for the price of one” promo for two more months, and will be introducing new variants, adding to its two original offerings of Pepperoni and Mushroom or Beef and Onion.