SMFB to invest 141 B in food, beer expansions

San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. is earmarking up to 141 billion for the expansion of its food and beer businesses over the next three years as it rides on the continuing growth in demand.

In an interview at the sidelines of SMFB’s investors’ briefing for its 139.9 billion follow-on offering, company Chief Operating Officer Francisco Alejo III said the are allotting a capex of 111 billion for their beer business up to next year.

“We are already at about 95 percent capacity utilization,” he said. The firm now has a capacity of 18.8 million hectoliters and is in the middle of building two breweries in Northern Mindanao and Laguna.

The two new breweries will add 2 million hectoliters in capacity and should be on stream late next year or early 2020.

For the firm’s various food businesses, SMFB is allotting about 110 billion a year or a total of 130 billion up to 2020 also for capacity expansion.

Alejo said they are putting up five new feed mills with two expected to be operational this year while the other three will be completed in 2019.

He explained that capacity utilization has already reached about 95 percent while there continues to be a lot of opportunity for growth and for putting up more plants.

SMFB will also be putting up more poultry dressing facilities over the next two years “to take care of increasing per capita consumption of chicken in the Philippines,” said Alejo.

The firm will also be expanding the capacities of Monterey’s slaughter houses and its flour milling capacity specially in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Alejo said they also intend to increase processed meats capacity by 50 percent next year after a recent increase also by 50 percent to allow SMFB to sell ready to eat items not only to airlines but also to convenience stores.