Foodsphere open to IPO

MANILA, Philippines - Foodsphere Inc., maker of the CDO brand of canned and refrigerated meats and the San Marino tuna brand, is open to the possibility of going public.

“We are open to evaluating this option but not in the near future,” said COO and vice-president Francisco Elicano.

An initial public offering is the process through which a private company offers stock to the general public for the first time and officially becomes a publicly traded company.

Companies looking to further the growth of their business often resort to this scheme as a way to generate the capital needed to expand.

While IPOs can be costly and time consuming, the tradeoffs are very appealing to companies. IPOs provide companies with access to the public market and also increase their credibility and exposure.

Elicano said the company’s sales and profit continued to grow in the first half this year but below expectations.

Owned by the Ong family, CDO-Foodsphere Inc. is the company behind the best-sellers CDO Karne Norte, CDO Bibbo! Hotdog, CDO Meatloaf, CDO Hamburger Patties, CDO Holiday Ham and other popular meat brands in the country.

The company, which started from a backyard operation in Marulas, Valenzuela City in 1975,has grown to become one of the biggest players in the meat processing industry with around 10 factory stores.

Its state of the art mega plant in Malvar, Batangas is recognized as the cleanest meat processing facility in the country. It is designed to serve the growing requirements of the Filipino consumers for high-quality and affordable meat products. The facility produces 150,000 kilos of different processed meat products daily.

CDO supplies and delivers meat toppings to 90 percent of quick service restaurants in the country. It exports to the Middle East.

Company founder Corazon Dayro-Ong, built the company out of passion for culinary arts and concern for the nutrition of the Filipino consumers.

CDO-Foodsphere Inc. is also among the first companies to adopt HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Points) in meat manufacturing, making it the cornerstone of the company’s production approach since 2002 to produce fresh, hygienic, and high-quality meat products.