RFM confirms talks with Century

MANILA, Philippines - Food and beverage firm RFM Corp. confirmed yesterday it is in talks with Century Canning Corp. of the Po family for the possible sale or joint venture deal with respect to its Swift meat group.

The STAR reported Monday that Century Canning was among those interested in RFM’s meat division, which processes hotdogs, bacon, hams, corned beef, luncheon meat and sausages.

“We wish to confirm the report that we are in talks with Century Canning Corp.,” RFM said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

RFM, however, said no agreement has yet been reached with any party.

“We have yet to finalize certain terms and conditions and we have not signed any definitive agreement on the matter,” RFM said.

Century Canning is the marine and tuna unit of Century Pacific Group, one of the leading and widely-diversified companies in the food industry. Its core business is the canning, marketing and distribution of marine (tuna, sardine, and other sea foods), meat, and milk products under Century Tuna, Blue Bay, Fresca, Argentina and 555 brands. It also produces the Wow line of prepared meals.

Century Pacific is also into the canned milk market with Snow Mountain Dairy Corp. via the liquid and powdered milk brands Angel and Birchtree.

Aside from this, the group is also engaged in the fastfood business via Yoshinoya.

RFM disclosed in August it received offers from various groups that have signified interest in acquiring its meat division. It was also keen on entering into partnerships to improve its meat processing business.

The sale of the Swift meat group will allow RFM to concentrate on further strengthening its leading branded consumer products which include Selecta ice ream (a joint venture with global multinational firm Unilever), Fiesta pasta and sauce, White King (cake mixes and flour-based products), Sunkist fruit juices and Selecta milk-based products.

Selecta, a dominant leader in the local ice cream industry with a 71­-percent market share, has been performing above expectations particularly with the launch of the Magnum ice cream bar ( the Belgian chocolate ice cream on stick) which has become a craze among the youth market.

It continues to grow its operations with affordable yet exciting innovations in its Cornetto and Classic lines such as Selecta Overload, Selecta super-thick Classics and the Hersheys collection.

RFM’s White King Fiesta division, which includes its fast-growing pasta business, has also been performing very well, expanding its market leadership position to 29 percent from 25 percent last year.

Other White King products such as all-purpose flour, hotcake and flour mixes, arroz caldo and champorado have also captured a good slice of the market that prefers easy-to-prepare Filipino native cakes and hot porridge dishes, with good value-for-money.