Who owns Pío Pío?
Pío Pío is owned by Grupo Melo (Panama, Latinex: MELO).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Empresas Melo, S.A. informe anual 2025 / annual report 2025. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Empresas Melo, S.A. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇵🇦 Panama, Panama City
- Origin
- 🇵🇦 Panama
- Category
- Restaurants & foodservice › Quick-service restaurants › Burger & chicken chains
- Parent ticker
- Latinex: MELO
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Pío Pío
Pío Pío is Panama's largest fast food chain by number of locations, with 77 restaurants, and it is the one brand in the Melo group that most Panamanians know by name. Its sales grew 2 per cent in 2025 as it opened branches at Costa Verde in Panamá Oeste and at Algarrobos in Chiriquí, remodelled its Marbella restaurant, launched a mobile app and a delivery service, and moved its packaging entirely to paper.
Ownership timeline of Pío Pío
- Current owner Grupo Melo [1] reported
Where Pío Pío sits in Grupo Melo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Grupo Melo ownership tree →
See the full Grupo Melo brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Grupo Melo
Grupo Melo controls 6 brands on Brandtree.
Other brands in burger & chicken chains, and who owns them
The 39 brands in burger & chicken chains on Brandtree belong to 24 owners. The largest is Jollibee Group, with 5.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Chowking | Jollibee Group | 🇵🇭 Philippines |
| Arby's | Inspire Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
| KFC | Yum! Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Chester's | CP Foods | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| Burger King | Restaurant Brands International | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Papa Murphy's | MTY Group | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Wimpy (Middle East) | Americana Restaurants | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates |
| Steak n Shake | Biglari Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Grupo Melo
Grupo Melo is a publicly listed company headquartered in Panama City, Panama. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as Latinex: MELO.
Empresas Melo is a Panamanian holding company whose businesses run from hatcheries and feed mills to hardware shops, pet stores, vehicle dealerships and a fried chicken chain. It describes itself as 100 per cent Panamanian, with more than seventy years of agro-industrial and commercial activity, and it employed 5,528 people at the end of 2025. Sales that year were $477.61 million, of which foods were 37.9 per cent, its retail warehouses 30.2 per cent, machinery and vehicles 20.0 per cent, restaurants 10.8 per cent and real estate 1.1 per cent; net income was B/.15.9 million, up 10 per cent on 2024.
🇵🇦 Pío Pío and other Panamanian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 13 brands that began in Panama. 5 of them (38%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Pío Pío is not one of them.
- Air Panama — Air Panama 🇵🇦
- Banistmo — Grupo Cibest 🇨🇴
- ConnectMiles — Copa 🇵🇦
- Inteligo — IFS 🇵🇪
- La Chiricana — Dos Pinos 🇨🇷
- Toledano — CMI 🇬🇹
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Pío Pío?
The parent company of Pío Pío is Grupo Melo, a publicly listed company headquartered in Panama.
Is Pío Pío Panamanian?
Yes. Pío Pío originated in Panama and its owner, Grupo Melo, is also headquartered in Panama.
Is Pío Pío still owned by Grupo Melo?
Yes. As of 20 September 2026, Pío Pío is still owned by Grupo Melo. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Empresas Melo, S.A. informe anual 2025 / annual report 2025 — Empresas Melo, S.A., Annual report; retrieved 20 September 2026.
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