DOUGHNUT lovers, rejoice! J.CO Donuts & Coffee has just opened its 12th store in the Philippines at Glorietta 2 in Ayala Center, Makati City, last Wednesday (June 24, 2013). It’s conveniently located on the ground floor of the newly renovated mall, occupying a strategic corner fronting SM Makati and Fairmont Hotel and enjoying the high foot traffic of its location.
Now the fastest growing donut and coffee chain not only in the Philippines but throughout Southeast Asia, the Indonesian-based J.CO Donuts & Coffee was established in 2005 and has through the years expanded into a network of 125 branches in Indonesia, 12 branches in Malaysia, four branches in Singapore and two branches in China. Its success in the region made it inevitable for J.CO Donuts to reach Philippine shores, and it did so in 2012, when the first J.CO Donuts shop in the Philippines opened at SM Megamall. There was no turning back since then, with donut lovers shifting allegiance to the new Asian brand and really queueing up for its delicious donuts with quirky names. It became so popular that more branches had to be opened in SM Mall of Asia, Greenbelt 3, TriNoma, SM City Fairview, Alabang Town Center, Eastwood City, SM City North EDSA, The District-Cavite, Centrio Mall in Cagayan de Oro City and SM City Pampanga.
This week, when J.CO Donuts’ 12th store opened in Glorietta 2, queues quickly formed, affirming the Filipinos’ love affair with its soft and freshly cooked donuts, with its signature Alcapone donut, which is a simple donut glazed with white Belgian chocolate and topped with crunchy almond slices from California, as the top-selling variant. Personally, this is my favorite donut flavor because I like my donut simple and classic and I love almonds. When I want flavor in my donut, I go for Green Tease (white chocolate web with green tea cream topping), Mr. Green Tea (matcha green tea with toasted almond bits), Oreology (white chocolate topping fully covered with ground bits of dark Oreo), Avocado Dicaprio (avocado delight with a rich chocolate garnish) or Blueberry More (cream cheese filling, blueberry sauce and white chocolate topping).
Other donut flavors that are available at J.CO Donuts include Glazzy (honey-glazed soft-bite donut), Jacky Chunk (peanut-dark chocolate combo topping on a Glazzy donut), Jcoccino (cappuccino-chocolate combination studded with nuts on the outer edge), Sesame Stripes (matcha chocolate topping drizzled with sesame), Hi Lychee (topped with luscious lychee-white chocolate mint and filled with delicate cream), Don Mochino (luscious cappuccino cream filling and dark Belgian chocolate), Tiramisu (tiramisu-flavored filling and topped capped off with a light sprinkling of cocoa powder), Berry Spears (cream cheese filling, strawberry sauce and white chocolate topping), Forest Glam (lush Black Forest toppings of cherries, dark chocolate and confectioners’ sugar), Crunchy Crunchy (chocolate topping with crunchy chocolate rice crispies), Crème La Fame (crème brûlée wrapped in toasted caramel), Choconutzzy (twisty blend of choco-nut filling and topping) and Choco Caviar Strawberry (strawberry-chocolate topping with crisp chocolate bits).
These donuts sell at Php42 per piece, Php230 for Half a Dozen donuts, Php350 for One Dozen donuts and Php550 for Two Dozens donuts.
J.CO Donuts is also popular for its savory J.Club Cheezy Rich donut sandwich, which is like an ensaymada generously topped with grated cheese, whose price is Php45 per piece; as well as its J.Pops Baby Donuts packaged in boxes of two dozen pieces at Php250 per box.
The donuts are best enjoyed with J.CO Donuts’ signature drink, Jcoccino, a hot drink, or its ice-cold version, Jcoccino Frappe. There are quite a number of other hot and cold coffee, chocolate and tea-based drinks that go very well with the donuts.
All these are available at the new Glorietta 2 store, which occupies a spacious 236 square meters of floor space, and features new interior seating concepts that create cozy nooks for J.CO habitués as well as wrap-around al fresco dining spots on both of its store fronts where customers can enjoy the buzz of Makati from a laid-back point of view.
On opening day, a short program was hosted by Sam YG, radio jock of Magic 89.9, with celebrity couple and J.CO lovers Gretchen Ho and Robi Domingo as special guests. Gita Herdi, marketing director of the Johnny Andrean Group, also graced the opening, jetting in all the way from Indonesia for the event.
More branches of J.CO will soon open at Araneta Center, UPIS Katipunan Ave., U.N. Ave., SM Southmall, Greenhills and General Santos City.
