Yao firm earmarks P2B for expansion program

Macay Holdings, a beverage investment holding firm led by businessman Alfredo Yao, has earmarked around P2 billion for capital outlays this year and is firming up its expansion plans across Southeast Asia.

In the Visayas, the group recently expanded capacity in Iloilo with the introduction of two new production lines while a new plant had been set up in Cebu, Macay chair Alfredo Yao said in an interview on the sidelines of the company stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday.

In 2015, new production lines were set up in Kaybiga, Pampanga while a production hub in Isabela started operations.

The group also launched Seetrus, an internally developed, lemon-lime flavored soft drink.

On its regional expansion agenda, a key announcement will likely be made as early as next week, Yao said.

“We’ve always been saying we’re being enticed to become anchor bottler for Royal Crown in Asia, we’re still moving towards that direction,” said Macay president Antonio Panajon.

Macay is the parent firm of ARC Refreshments Corp. (ARC), which holds all the operating units of Asiawide Refreshment Corp. and Mega Asia Bottling Corp.

Asiawide, in turn, holds an exclusive license from RC Cola USA to manufacture and distribute RC Cola in the Philippines, while Mega Asia operates the RC Cola bottling and manufacturing operations in the Philippines.

As the group is the biggest bottler of RC Cola in the region, Royal Crown Cola of Georgia USA wants to give the group such “anchor bottler” status in Southeast Asia.

“If we’re going to expand (across the region), we should naturally go where RC is present. RC is in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Now, they have moved into India. We’ve always been looking at Myanmar,” Panajon said.