Food company expects strong sales of hams, cheese products

Foodsphere Inc., one of the largest food manufacturers in the country, said it expects a double-digit growth in sales this year, underpinned by robust demand for hams and cheese products during the Christmas season.

“In the midst of a challenging business environment, our company managed to grow at double digits and we expect to end 2017 with a 12-percent growth year-onyear. This is almost double the country’s GDP growth of about 6.8 percent,” Foodsphere President Jerome D. Ong said in a statement.

The 12-percent growth for the total business was driven by key product categories like hotdogs, ham, bacon, canned tuna, corned beef and cheese, he said. Foodsphere has also expanded its distribution network to reach more Filipino consumers nationwide.

“Over the years, we have built very good relationship with the supermarket chains, with our network of distributors, our foodservice accounts, our banking and supplier partners--all of who are instrumental in our continued growth,” Ong said.

This has enabled Foodsphere to increase its market share in various segments of the meat business. “We have managed to increase market shares across our businesses despite increased competition. Our core business, which is processed meats, along with canned meats, canned tuna, sweet preserves, as well as our emerging cheese business all posted healthy revenue growth,” Ong said.

Ong said he expects higher demand for meat products this month, in line with the rising purchasing power of Filipinos. “This Christmas season, we see higher demand for our hotdogs, cheese balls, sweet preserves and especially our Christmas Hams because of all the holiday festivities, both at home and out-of-home,” he said.

Foodsphere carries a wide array of holiday products including hams and other goodies found in Christmas baskets that are ideal for gift-giving to employees and business partners. “All these make this season the busiest time of the year for us,” Ong said.

Foodsphere offers six Christmas Ham variants including Holiday Ham, CDO Pista Ham, CDO Hamon de Bola, CDO Pearshaped Ham, CDO American Ham and CDO Chinese Ham. These ham selections address the different taste preferences of consumers and price affordability points, he said.

Ong, however, said meat companies now have to deal with increased cost of raw materials due to the weaker peso against the US dollar, resulting in a bit of a profit squeeze.

“Vibrant competition helps keep our prices competitive, and we manage this by constantly improving operational efficiencies. Our leaders make sure that their teams stay committed to achieving profitable growth, always finding ways to improve the way we do things,” he said.

He said Foodsphere expects to sustain its growth level in the coming year, with the launching of more food products to meet the demand of the Filipino consumers.

“In 2018, we are optimistic that we will maintain our growth trajectory, as we start harvesting from the seeds that we planted this year. In the second half of this year, we launched a complete line of premium corned beef under the Highlands brand, new improved cheese products, and others, and we expect increasing contribution from these products. As more and more people join the workforce and purchasing power increases, there will be many opportunities for us,” Ong said.