Demand for "green products" slowly picking up

Cebu, Philippines - Cebu Home Builders general manager James Co, he said that although there is still a need to intensify consumer awareness on “green products,” there is already a noted growing demand in the market.

Cebu Home Builders is the exclusive distributor of Megaman energy saving lamps, which promotes the utilization of green products in the market because of its benefits to the environment and sustainability.

“The interest for environmentally friendly products is growing and slowly building up its own market share especially in the retail market. As for projects which need purchase of materials by bulk, most contractors are hesitant to utilize these products because initially these are expensive and buying green products can decrease their profit margins,” said Co.

He said that they notice that consumers who patronize green products are usually home owners and retail establishments that are taking initiatives of decreasing their operational cost through utilizing environmentally friendly products.

“Energy saving lamps has their own niche markets. Right now, consumers are still hesitant to invest because of its high cost so we can say that the concept on eco-friendliness is still in an infancy stage here in the country,” said Co.

But since green products are now the trend in the international marketplace, Co is foreseeing a future increase in its demand along with the growing awareness of the market to the protection of the environment and the benefits from its outcome.

He said that for energy saving lamps, consumers can get several benefits because it needs no maintenance and can save up to 80 percent on the electric consumption although the pricing can be 10 times more compared to ordinary lighting bulbs.

He said that for Megaman, they have noted an increase of its sales by 30 to 40 percent after it was officially launched in the market last year.

“Even if the product is hard to sell because of its higher pricing, we still continue to be aggressive in our promotional efforts because we foresee potential in the future. The market may still be hesitant at these times but in the long run they will adapt to it,” said Co.

He said that at these times of financial crisis, green products serve as alternatives that can provide more value added features that can help decrease consumer’s production and operational costs.

“Now is the perfect time to realize the importance of using alternative products. Because of the crisis, we retailers are thinking of providing better products that are sustainable so we continuously introduce new innovations and technologies that can help our consumers at these tough times of the economy,” he said. —Rhia de Pablo