VFI: Into the New Millennium

Cebu does not only boast of its delicious mangoes and lechon but also brags of old Cebuano traditional products that have been served in almost every home for many years now. Virginia Food Inc. is among Cebu-based companies that are recognized by many consumers because of its exceptional taste and unique flavors.

Its humble beginnings go back to 1977, when Virginia Farm Inc. was then owned by the Chiongbian family, venturing into local poultry and piggery business at Tugbongan in Consolacion. With the upsurge in the demand for processed meat products, they decided to go into meat processing business and established Virginia Food Inc. From then on, VFI products have become kitchen favorites. VFI was later acquired by Avalon Holdings, a Manila-based company, sometime in January 2002. The new owners brought in state-of-the-art food processing equipment and added more facilities to existing capabilities.

VFI continues to showcase a variety of processed foods that are served in most Filipino homes. It caters to all market segments - from high end/premium market to the mass market. Australian, Champion, El Rancho and Winner are among the brands that VFI is known for. Included in its long list of processed foods are the breakfast favorites: corned beef - especially Winner Corned Beef which is considered a champ among competitors - bacon, cooked ham, pork tocino, Vienna sausage; Christmas hams such as pineapple ball ham, pear shaped ham, American tenderized ham and smoked crown roast. They strive to maintain VFI's long tradition of quality products.

Breathing new life to an old Cebuano favorite

At present, VFI is facing the challenge of innovation and improvement of their products and management functions. They are realigning and positioning themselves so that they will acquire the status of excellence - in quality products, that is. Competition has been tough and there is a need to respond to the call of the times. "VFI has been silent all these years, but now we are making noise. We are in the process of breathing/bringing new life to an old Cebuano favorite," Vice President for Sales & Marketing Stanley Go announced. Under the new management, VFI is further upgrading the brand through continuous product improvement in terms of packaging and new product launches. Better packaging designs - from the old traditional packing of using insert labels (in transparent packs) to designs that represent the premium quality and taste of the products - are noticeable in shades of red and blue packs. Thus, they are standardizing everything.

With a strong Sales and R&D team, continuous product evaluation and product improvement are ongoing. The company has availed of the services of internationally acclaimed expert/consultant Harry Glover who has acquired a Master's degree in Food Technology, Master's in Meat Science and MBA in Business Administration. He has worked with international companies in Argentina, USA, Germany, UK, Australia, Dubai and China. In the offing is the raising of the standards in food safety, as well as quality.

VFI recently launched new products such as the Corned Beef Loaf (first in the market) - a fusion of beef loaf and corned beef, Chicken Hotdog and Marinated Chicken in original barbeque, sweet chili and sizzlin' tocino flavors. Aside from product improvement and launchings, this meat processing company has also renovated their factory outlet along AS Fortuna Street.

"Because of our quality products, we have gained the trust of companies like Macro Asia, Eurest - Flight Catering Services - giving service to international airlines like Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines and WG and A Super Logistics. These are companies that are very particular with food sanitation. We have supplied hotels and resorts like Plantation Bay, Parklane Hotel and Badian Island Resort, as well as restaurants like Orange Brutus, AA's Barbecue and Pancake House. Also, we have been supplying a number of multinational companies with their ham requirements such as Timex, Lexmark, Energizer Phils. and Pentax," Go enumerates. One can be sure that VFI provides quality meat to its discriminating clientele.

This Christmas season, VFI is offering the newly improved Christmas hams - as yuletide delights. Companies can now provide their employees with Virginia Gift Packs that consist of VFI products from canned goods to frozen foods.

"Virginia boasts of its long standing tradition of quality, exceptional taste and unique flavor; and now, with the new aggressive and innovative management, we are making efforts to set the trends in the meat processing industry," said Go.