Franchise expo guide: prep, booth questions, checks

A franchise expo puts hundreds of brands in one hall for a few days, which makes it the fastest way to compare them, and the easiest place to get talked into one. The biggest in the Philippines is Franchise Asia Philippines, run by the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) and usually held in April at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.

The official Franchise Asia Philippines site lists the 2027 edition at SMX Convention Center Manila, with 1,000+ brands. The conference is on April 22, and the expo and seminars run April 23 to 25, 2027. Visitor registration was not open yet when we checked in October 2026, so confirm the dates there before you plan.

If you live outside Metro Manila, watch for the PFA's regional Franchise Negosyo expos. In 2026 they ran at SM Seaside City Cebu (July 31 to August 1), SM CDO Downtown in Cagayan de Oro (September 11 to 12) and SM City Iloilo (October 9 to 10). They are smaller, with 40 or more exhibitors each, but they include a free seminar on choosing the right franchise.

An hour of prep at home saves you a wasted day in the hall. Do this the week before:

• Decide your budget range and stick to it. Brands show packages at many price levels, and the cheap ones are not always the smallest commitment once fees run every month.
• Pick one or two locations you could actually get: a mall stall, a spot near a school, a ground-floor space you already have access to. The brand's first question will be "saan po ang location?"
• Pick 1 or 2 categories: food cart, coffee, milk tea, salon, laundry. Reading up on food carts or coffee franchises first helps.
• Shortlist 8 to 10 brands from the PFA members' directory on its website, which you can filter by sector and investment level.
• Print or save the booth questions below, one copy per brand.
• Charge your phone and bring a power bank: you'll use Google Maps at every booth.
• Bring a partner or friend who will say no for you.
• Make one rule and tell them about it: no deposits or reservation fees on the day.

Plan for half a day, not an hour. A good pattern:

• First lap, 30 minutes: walk the whole floor without stopping. Note the booths of your shortlisted brands and anything new that fits your budget and location.
• Seminar: sit in one on choosing a franchise. At the 2026 regional expos, "How to Invest in the Right Franchise" was free. You'll hear the questions franchisors expect to be asked.
• Second lap, 2 to 3 hours: spend 15 to 20 minutes at 5 to 8 booths. Ask the same questions at each, write the answers down and take a photo of the booth sign so you remember which notes go with which brand.
• Last 30 minutes: sit down and rank the brands while it is fresh. Who answered clearly? Who dodged?

Ask every brand the same list. The answers matter, and so does how comfortable the person is giving them.

• How many branches do you have, and how many are franchised rather than company-owned?
• How long have you been franchising, and how many branches closed in the last 2 years?
• Are you a PFA member? Is your trademark registered?
• Which branches can I visit? Can I choose some myself?
• Can I talk to 3 current franchisees? Can I pick one myself?
• What does the franchise fee include, and which fees recur every month? Can I have all of them in writing?
• How long is the training, where is it, and who pays for the crew's training?
• Do I have to buy supplies from you? What happens if a supply runs out?
• How do you approve a location, and how close can another branch open to mine?
• How long from signing to opening, on average?
• Who creates and owns my branch's Google profile, and do I get access?
• Who replies to my branch's reviews, and who handles complaints that need a refund?
• What happens if I want to sell or close my branch?

The booth will show you its best branch. Google Maps shows you the rest. Before you leave each booth, take 5 minutes: open 5 of the brand's branches in different places, note each one's rating and number of reviews, and read the newest low-star reviews for complaints that repeat. Repeated complaints usually come from the system, and you'll be buying the system.

Then ask the person at the booth about what you found. A good franchisor already knows. Our guide to checking a franchise's Google reviews before you buy has the full method and a scorecard.

Branches of the same brand can be far apart. In a Mapkita sample of 1,646 Metro Manila branches of 35 chain brands on Google Maps (October 2026), the median gap between a brand's best and worst branch was 2.9 stars. Branches with fewer than 20 reviews had a median of 3.7 stars, against 4.2 for branches with 100 or more. See our study of how franchise branches rate on Google for the full numbers.

Some brands keep it tight. In the same sample, Coffee Project's 24 branches had a median of 4.3 stars. That is what a system that works at every address looks like.

The PFA's advisory on franchise scams warns against pressure tactics and offers that are too good to be true. At an expo, those look like this:

• An "expo-only" discount that requires a deposit today.
• A promised payback period or monthly profit, said out loud but not written anywhere.
• No branch you can visit, or only branches the franchisor picks.
• No franchisee you can call, or only the owner's relatives.
• Vague answers about recurring fees or supplies.
• Branches whose reviews are a burst of 5-star ratings with no text, all within a few days. Google's policy bans paid reviews and reviews posted from several accounts at one person's request. A burst like that is a warning sign, not proof.

The expo is where you narrow the list. The decision comes later.

• Days 1 to 3: put your notes side by side and cut the list to 2 or 3 brands.
• Days 3 to 10: visit 2 or 3 branches of each as an ordinary customer, at a busy hour. Order the best-seller and time it.
• Days 3 to 10: call the franchisees, including one you found yourself.
• Days 10 to 14: ask your top brand for the agreement and its disclosure document, if it has one (PFA members must), and have a lawyer read it.
• If you go ahead: before opening day, verify your branch's Google profile and make its Google review link so the first customers can find the right branch.

If the words on the brochures are new to you, read what franchising is and how it works before you go. And to understand who runs the expo, see our guide to the Philippine Franchise Association.