Pickup Coffee turns to franchising as it targets 800 kiosks by 2026

Pickup Coffee has moved its growth story from pure rollout to a harder test: franchising. At a May 13 update, the Filipino coffee chain said it had piloted 10 franchise stores over the previous three months and was now offering a franchise license for PHP2 million, a package that includes initial stocks, equipment and the coffee truck.

The company’s ambition is big even by coffee-chain standards. It has about 500 kiosks in the Philippines and around 100 stores in Mexico City, and it wants to reach roughly 800 units by the end of 2026. CEO and cofounder Diego Lorenzo said the brand remains confident despite broader economic pressure because Filipino consumers still respond to accessible coffee pricing and a grab-and-go format.

That pricing story sits at the center of Pickup Coffee’s appeal. Founded in 2022 by Diego Lorenzo, Jaime González Fernández, Miguel Macaalay and Bien Lee, the company opened its first physical outlet in May 2022 at Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. It positions itself as a proudly homegrown Filipino coffee company built around making premium espresso more accessible, and its site says it uses 100% Arabica beans and roasts beans daily.

The speed of the climb is what makes the franchising move worth watching. Pickup Coffee said it opened its 300th store by Dec. 6, 2024, and later said it had passed 500 stores nationwide by March 2026. By March 2025, it said it had sold more than 40 million cups of coffee, and by the time it hit 300 stores it had moved more than 3 million cups of Kape Kastila.

The real execution question now is whether that kiosk model can keep its edge while the company shifts from building every site itself to leaning on franchise partners. Pickup Coffee wants franchised stores to stay below 20% to 25% of the system, while still adding as many as 200 more company-owned stores this year in Northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It also expects the Mexico business to keep expanding, with a target of 100 stores by year-end.

For a brand built on speed, low ticket prices and a no-fuss format, franchising is the next stress test. The 10-store pilot was the easy part. The hard part is making sure the same cup, the same price and the same pace hold together when Pickup Coffee is no longer running every counter itself.