Tanduay plans to expand into more states in US

MANILA, Philippines — Tanduay Distillers Inc., the Lucio Tan-owned liquor company, plans to bring the brand to three new markets in the US as it seeks to cement its presence across the globe.

“We can say that we have overcome the challenges of the past years and are now focused on growing the business further here in the Philippines and other countries,” said Lucio Tan III, president and COO of Tanduay.

Under the leadership of the younger Tan, the brand began its expansion in Europe and is now present in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, Austria, Czech Republic, Georgia and Armenia.

In Asia, Tanduay is available in China, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Qatar. In the US, the brand is already in 16 states.

In all, Tanduay’s international business was up by 16 percent in 2022, with its Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets recording a 293 percent growth.

The company continued its growth momentum under Tan III, who assumed the leadership of the company in 2019, with a consolidated net income in 2022 reaching P1.42 billion or 14 percent higher than the previous year.

Consolidated revenues stood at P31.6 billion, a 26 percent increase from 2021.

The company faced challenges in the last three years such as the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, elevated inflation, dampened consumer spending and supply chain issues but Tan said Tanduay never lost focus on growing the business.

“What the past three years have taught us is to never lose our focus. While a more restrained approach in spending may be called for, we will remain aggressive in our product research and development and marketing efforts,” said Tan.

Tanduay’s liquor volumes went up by 16 percent last year, continuing its dominance in the Visayas and Mindanao, where every three out of four liquor drinkers choose Tanduay products.

The company also grew its share in the overall domestic market.

While consolidated cost of sales was up by 28 percent  at P28 billion due to higher excise taxes and manufacturing costs, Tanduay still ended 2022 with a 12 percent growth in its gross profit at P3.6 billion.

Ethanol volumes, on the other hand, were flat, but had higher selling prices last year due to the increased costs of molasses and sugar.

While the Philippine liquor industry expanded by six percent in 2022, inflation may affect growth this year as demand for non-basic commodities like liquor might slow down.

Tan III is the eldest son of the late Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr. who led Tanduay as its president and COO until his untimely death in November 2019.

Tanduay is part of LT Group Inc., the listed holding company of taipan Lucio Tan. Tan III, the tycoon’s grandson, is also set to assume the leadership of LT Group as president and COO, by April 30.