Bebang Halo-Halo eyes first overseas store in Dubai in 2026

By Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

BEBANG HALO-HALO, a fast-growing Filipino dessert chain, is preparing to enter the international market with plans to open its first overseas store in Dubai by late 2026 or early 2027, aiming to bring its signature halo-halo to a wider global audience.

“We’re hoping that… we will have an international location either by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027,” President and Chief Executive Officer Sam Karazi said in an interview.

Dubai is the likely first stop because of the founders’ familiarity with the market. “I spent more than 10 years there… It will be easier to expand in a place you know versus when you’re completely blind,” he said.

The company sees strong potential demand from the large Filipino community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), many of whom regularly look for familiar comfort foods while working overseas.

“Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Dubai are a huge population,” Mr. Karazi said, noting that his co-founder, Daymee Salumbides, also lived there for almost a decade. “We both have a lot of ties to the place.”

The UAE remains one of the biggest hubs for overseas Filipinos. Data from the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai showed 189,892 registered OFW voters in the country, with 123,891 based in Dubai and the Northern Emirates and 66,001 in Abu Dhabi.

As the chain sets its sights abroad, Mr. Karazi said Bebang Halo-Halo’s growth has been powered largely by its strong social media presence.

“The reason we succeeded is because I know how to navigate social media and how to market a brand on social media,” he said. “This is our secret sauce. This is where all the magic happens.”

He added that the company’s early success came from investing heavily in marketing from day one.

Bebang Halo-Halo began in 2021 out of a residential parking space in Quezon City, selling halo-halo to neighbors. When Mr. Karazi joined the venture, he said the business was struggling to grow beyond its immediate community.

“Within a few months — two to three months — we were already open and operational in Mandaluyong,” he said, referring to what became the chain’s first official branch.

The company has since expanded rapidly. It now has 42 branches across the Philippines and is targeting 50 stores by year-end and 60 by January 2026.

“Sometimes, we open two to three stores a week,” Mr. Karazi said. “We were supposed to have more locations than this now, but we started expanding only last year.”

He said the company intends to sustain its momentum as it prepares to take the brand overseas. “We have to continue moving forward. We have to go take the brand globally. That’s our goal. Nothing should slow us down.”