Mega Global Corp. gears up for hike in food demand due to PHL recovery
One of the country’s leading sardines brands has invested P500 million for expansion projects this year and next year, as it looks to augment its fishing and canning capacities in anticipation of higher demand for its offerings.
In a virtual news briefing on Thursday, Mega Global Corp. COO Michelle Chan said the firm has injected P500 million for increasing production output in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. She said Mega is eyeing to improve its fishing and canning capacities both by 20 percent this year to fill in the growing demand for its products.
As a producer of basic goods, Mega is one of the few firms benefitting from the health crisis, as requirement for canned items that are included in relief bags are high at the moment.
“We are allocating at least P500 million for expansion this year and next year. I think it’s around 20 percent increase for our canning capacity, as well as for fishing,” Chan said.
Aside from bolstering production output, Mega is considering to acquire fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands, according to President and CEO William Tiu Lim.
“We are on the lookout for broadening our horizons through acquisitions and mergers by taking in FMCG products where we have a networking from north to south. That’s one of the plans we are looking at in the near future,” he said.
“The growth is there, but we are looking at other prospects, especially in the FMCG sector, as this business move [acquisition] has yet to be explored before thoroughly.”
However, the firm, which is celebrating 45th anniversary this year, is taking its expansion plans slowly but surely, particularly at a time when business uncertainty is at its highest. Lim, for one, said increasing the capacity on one sector—say, fishing—would require the firm to increase the capacity as well for canning, logistics, distribution and marketing.
Everything entails a cost, and costs are becoming difficult to overcome lately, Lim admitted.
“The production site is suffering because a lot of our manpower cannot go to work [due to the restrictions on public transport]. As much as fishing is hitting its targets, production is having a little bit of problems,” the Mega chief said.
“When we expand by that much, we have to change a lot of things like logistics. However, we have to invest in this time as well. It is like preparing yourself to grow again once the economy recovers and picks up.”
As part of taking expansion slow and steady, Mega is shunning the option of filing for an initial public offering this year to secure the firm’s continuous growth. However, if opportunity shows up in the next five years, Lim said Mega might just go public.
Mega Global Corp. is one of the country’s leading manufacturers and distributors of canned goods behind the brands Mega Sardines, Mega Tuna and Mega Prime Canned Vegetables.