The Philippines Celebrate a DQ® Milestone
30 Sep, 2009
Posted by : BRS
Last summer, the Dairy Queen® brand reached a huge landmark when the 500th international DQ® location outside of the United States and Canada opened in Manila, Philippines. That’s right—there are DQ stores in the Philippines! In fact, the Philippines is home to 20 DQ locations on last count, and there are currently DQ locations in 19 countries other than the U.S. and Canada.
The Philippines is an archipelago in Southeastern Asia east of Vietnam. The country is slightly larger than the size of Arizona, but has a population of more than 96 million. All of the DQ locations in the country are Dairy Queen/Orange Julius® stores that only serve treats, not food.
The most popular treat internationally is the same one that is No. 1 in North America—the Blizzard® Treat, with the Oreo® Blizzard Treat being the favorite in the Philippines. The products on the menu are similar to those found in the United States and Canada, but they are sold in smaller sizes. Internationally, the Blizzard Treat is guaranteed to be served “upside down or it’s free,” which the Filipino customers love.
I’m Filipino and I’m a Blizzard fan. We were ravaged by typhoon Ketsana this past weekend and so last Tuesday my sister and I drove to a mall called SM Taytay to buy some groceries; we were so happy to see a DQ store!
A simple treat to ourselves in the midst of a depressing situation here in Manila.
barrycade, thank you for sharing with us how DQ helped you found a bright spot this past weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and everyone there in Manilla.
reading about Philippines DQ milestone brought back fond memories. I think I was 14 or 15 when I first landed a job besides babysitting. It was so exciting for two reasons. My friend Sally and I was hired as “flyer girls” for the opening of DQ in Yokohama, Japan. It was only for couple of days. But for us was a time to remember. Both of us are half Japanese and at that time didn’t speak Japanese. So we were taught what to say. This was also to mark my first REAL large purchase. My first pair of eyeglasses. We were really excited because we finally got to enjoy something we missed back in the states. Back in the states, it was our family’s once a week treat. The couple of days that we did work, they treated us like we were movie stars or someone very famous. You can just imagine how two teenage girl’s excitement.
Im proud to be a Dairy Queen employee for 5 years now in Bahrain. Have seen quite a few of Dairy Queen stores in US and confident that Dairy Queen in Philippines maintains the highest standards in terms of operations and customer service.