Jamaica’s beloved fast-food chain, Juici Patties, is successfully expanding in the U.S., with 57 franchise agreements signed and locations ready to open by 2027.
The brand was founded in 1980 by Jukie Chin in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica, with its star product being the Jamaican beef patty, a flaky pastry filled with spiced beef, chicken, vegetables, or seafood.
Jukie Chin started the business in his mother’s kitchen at age 16 and sold the patty in the family’s grocery store. Today, Juici Patties is a household name with over 60 locations across Jamaica. It also exports to other Caribbean countries, with its first major expansion into the U.S. being in 2014 in South Florida.
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Not too long ago, it opened locations in Brooklyn and the Bronx, attracting almost all and sundry and showing the massive love people have for Jamaican food.
“This is more than just a business. This is an opportunity for a Jamaican company and brand to expand on the global stage and show the world that Jamaica has a lot of potential,” Asian-Jamaican entrepreneur Daniel Chin, CEO of Juici Patties USA and the founder’s son, told Black Enterprise. “Being from Jamaica, being in the Caribbean, it gave me that extra motivation to do something that has never been done before.”
Daniel Chin studied hospitality and business at the University of Guelph before he joined his father’s company 12 years ago. “I was studying economics, accounting, food chemistry, and food science. It was a mix of business with a little bit of culinary,” he said. “The program was niche. It’s hospitality but so strongly business, and it’s perfect for somebody in the restaurant business.”
His educational background helped him in transforming his father’s business operations, starting with customer service. “About 8-10 years ago, our customer service was pretty bad,” Daniel Chin said. “We didn’t have that consistency that I hoped for.” The company worked on its customer service model, focusing on “how we hire, how we recruit, how we train, how we pay. We redid everything from the ground up.”
Within two years, the company ranked No.1 in Jamaica for customer service, with 96% of its employees recommending the company as a workplace to family and friends. These operational changes also helped in its moves in the U.S.
In 2023, Forbes reported that Caribbean food was one of three global cuisines (alongside South American and South Asian) poised to take off in the United States.
Over the years, Caribbean brands have found it difficult to establish a stronger presence in the U.S. largely due to logistical challenges, limited marketing understanding or access to digital tools, resource constraints, and cultural stereotypes, said Dr. Nicole Grimes, Founder and CEO of Carib Biz Network LLC (CBN).
“Many Caribbean companies lack comprehensive knowledge of consumer preferences, cultural nuances, and market dynamics that are critical for effective marketing and brand positioning,” Grimes explained. “This knowledge gap has hindered their ability to create relevant and compelling messaging that resonates with US consumers.”
For Daniel Chin, learning the value of people and relationships from his father and adopting a franchise model rather than depending on outside capital has helped him succeed with his business.
“What’s special about our situation is that we’re a franchisor,” Daniel Chin explained. “We don’t really need private equity because with the franchise model, we can scale while still maintaining control.”
“Franchising helps to share in some of the returns. The franchisees build the store out, put in the equipment, and handle construction. I like this model because it helps us make other people wealthy.”
Most franchisees are Jamaican Americans who understand the culture and the food, Daniel Chin told Black Enterprise. “They bring in business partners — some not Jamaican — but friends of theirs or business partners,” he added.
