D&L Industries seals deal with US food firm

SCREENGRAB from www.dnl.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines–A unit of food and plastic input manufacturer D&L Industries has bagged an Asia-Pacific supply deal with Ventura Foods, a leading US food manufacturer.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, D&L said its subsidiary Oleo-Fats Inc. (OFI) entered into a supply agreement with Ventura Foods to develop and produce specialty oils and specialty ingredients for the food service, retail and ingredient manufacturing industries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Development and production for the region, as well as for the domestic market, will be done at OFI’s Mercury Plant in Quezon City, the company said.

By leveraging on Ventura Foods’ extensive culinary and commercial expertise in producing custom specialty food ingredients, OFI expects to entrench itself with current customers, specifically the quick service restaurants (QSRs), seen to be one of the most exciting growth sectors in the industry. Through Ventura Foods’ existing businesses across the Asia-Pacific region, OFI also expects to grow its exports.

As a strategic supplier, OFI will equip Ventura Foods with a more simplified supply chain through improved scale, better logistics, and cost efficiency for its global customers.

“Ventura Foods realizes the importance of local production outside of the US,” said Yann Kervoern, Ventura Foods’ President of International. “We have identified the Asia-Pacific region as a key expansion market, and we are excited to engage Oleo-Fats as our partner in the Philippines. Oleo-Fats shares Ventura Foods’ passion for quality food, great customer service and the spirit of customization. By entering into a supplier relationship with Oleo-Fats, Ventura Foods has increased its capability to offer all products to the expanding Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”

According to OFI managing director Vincent Lao, “working with Ventura Foods will give us that traction in the specialty food ingredients market.”

The deal will also “solidify our position in the food service industry, in particular QSRs, where most of the high-growth, value-added opportunities are,” Yao added. “Eventually we want our ingredients to be found in almost every food category across the region. This brings us forward to that goal.”

D&L Industries reported a 31-percent year-on-year growth in export sales for the first six months of the year, driven by sales of specialty plastics and food ingredients segments.

Exports accounted for 18 percent of revenues for the period—higher than the 12 percent reported for the whole of last year.

During the six-month period, OFI increased exports year on year by 149 percent as the company leveraged on existing relationships locally to serve its customers’ operations throughout the Asia-Pacific.

OFI has over 650 food ingredient formulations serving more than 1,200 customers in the food and beverage industry. It engages in specialty fats and oils, refined vegetable oils, specialty ingredients and food safety products.–Doris C. Dumlao