Interflour invests P1.3B in PH

MANILA, Philippines–Singapore-based Interflour Group Pte. Ltd. is shelling out $30 million (roughly P1.3 billion) to put up a new flour milling facility in Zambales, as part of the company’s expansion program in Southeast Asia.

In a statement, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) disclosed that the new facility, which will be set up at the Subic Bay Gateway Park, was expected to meet the rising demand for flour not only in the Philippines, but also in Southeast Asia.

“The Philippines is an important market in Asia, with an estimated 25,000 bakeshops and with Gardenia as the largest. Interflour will be offering the finest flour for the local market, particularly in Central Luzon,” said Greg Harvey, managing director and chief executive of the Interflour Group.

According to the SBMA, the Interflour Group, Subic Bay Gateway Park, and the SBMA have already signed a 50-year lease contract for the construction of the flour mill facility within a 52,852-square-meter lot inside the Subic Bay Gateway Park.

Registered under the business name Mabuhay Interflour Mill Inc., the new flour mill is expected to be completed in 24 months.

Once operational, the facility will produce 500 metric tons of flour a day, which may be doubled to 1,000 MT by 2019.

SBMA chair Roberto V. Garcia said the new Subic entrant was proof that the Philippines was “in the screen” of foreign investors who are encouraged by the trust and confidence earned by President Aquino’s good governance program.

“This will also mean additional revenue for SBMA of about P5.5 million a year, for the use of ports by transport ships coming from wheat-growing countries like Australia, United States, Canada, as well as Europe and the Black Sea countries,” he said.

Garcia added that the project would provide bakeshops and entrepreneurs in the country with quality flour at competitive prices, as the cost of hauling and transporting flour to parts of Central and Northern Luzon would be cut by as much as half.

The Interflour Group is one of the biggest flour milling companies in the world with seven flour mills in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey.–With a report from Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon