Asia Brewery teams up with Spanish firm

MANILA, Philippines - Asia Brewery Inc. has formed a new company with Spanish dairy producer Grupo Leche Pascual for the sale of yogurt in the country as it seeks to double the local market for such product.

Asia Brewery chief operating officer Michael Tan said in a press conference, the new company, ABI Pascual Foods, was formed  to introduce quality yogurt brand, Creamy Delight,  with the aim of doubling the market of such product in the country.

“Initially, our plan is to double the market in the first year, to grow segment,” he said.

He said the newly formed firm is targeting to sell about one million cases of yogurt in its first year of operations, about the same size as the existing market for yogurt here.

He said the firm decided to introduce Creamy Delight in the country given the low consumption of yogurt at present.

“With Creamy Delight, we hope to lead a revolution advocating for more Filipinos to gain access to all the goodness of yogurt,” he said.

Creamy Delight, which is priced between P15 to P20, about 40 to 50 percent lower than other brands in the market,  is seen as an alternative food source to help Filipino families meet their daily nutritional needs.

Creamy Delight will initially be imported from Spain but as the market for yogurt grows in the country, Tan said they are looking to invest P800 million to open a manufacturing plant for local production.

The plant being planned should have a capacity of 10,000 to 20,000 tons per year, and will likely be located in Cabuyao in Laguna.

Tan also said that should the plan to set-up the manufacturing plant materialize, the products  produced locally would not only be sold here but also in other countries in the Southeast Asian region.

“The plan is to make Philippines the production base for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” he said.

Grupo Leche Pascual president Tomas Pascual said in the same event that the priority for now is to invest in the consumer and promote the product.

He also said they decided to form a partnership with Asia Brewery here as the Philippines is a good place to start a business.