Pinoy peanut brand Wow Mani now available in Walmart, USA
PHILIPPINE company RPO Fine Foods Corp., a Philippine company, closed a deal with Walmart for its Wow Mani product line in June 2020.
Walmart is now offering RPO Fine Foods Corp.’s Wow Mani product line in their San Francisco, Mountain View, San Jose, San Leonardo, and Union City stores.
Kathreen Ann Ocampo, marketing director for RPO Fine Foods Corp., cites the outbound business-matching missions (OBMMS) organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as one of the catalysts for their company’s success.
“We are glad that we were able to join the OBMM in Korea for the Dessert and Snack Pavilion in 2017, which gave way in changing the look and packaging of our product. It really inspired us to achieve the modern, clean, and export quality packaging that will entice foreign markets,” said Ocampo.
“The mission in Canada in 2018 also made a big impact since we were able to push and benchmark existing US peanut brands, flavor, pricing, and packaging of the Canadian market. DTI-Export Marketing Bureau [EMB] and Foreign Trade Service Corps [FTSC] really exposed us to the possibility that there is a big global market opportunity waiting for us. We are so much grateful to your untiring support. Without your help and trust in our products, we won’t be able to achieve what we are today,” she continued.
The company met a consolidator during the International Food Exhibition (IFEX) in 2009 that helped them supply to Walmart indirectly. A new proposal was sent in 2018 with Walmart but the listing process was stiff and strict. They checked and validated the credibility and marketability of Wow Mani Products by testing it through exposure in trade expositions and presence to mainstream supermarkets both in the Philippines and in the USA. For almost two years, Walmart tested how Wow Mani products would be accepted by the consumers.
Ocampo also mentioned that they closed a deal with Lulu Supermarket through the OBMM in Dubai last year. The supermarket is now carrying Wow Mani in their stores in Dubai and Oman.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said that “We’re now more focused on creating smarter, globally competitive micro, small and medium enterprises [MSME] that can really fight it out in the international market. With these interventions installed under the Duterte administration, we can help improve their competitiveness, business sustainability, and to mainstream their brands in international markets.”
“We have several programs that help MSMES in all stages of their development. We are proud to be part of their development from budding start-ups to successful exporters,” said DTI Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman.
DTI-EMB Director Senen Perlada stated that the EMB endeavors to provide the exporters the enabling environment to make them globally competitive through its various programs geared toward the internalization of Philippine products and services.
“In collaboration with various DTI offices and industry stakeholders, the FTSC will continue to pursue initiatives for the expansion and diversification of trade with the objective to help generate employment and contribute to the country’s economic recovery” said FTSC Executive Director Anthony Rivera.