Century Pacific eyeing P300M storage facility

MANILA, Philippines–Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) is mulling over plans of building a cold storage facility, worth P300 to P400 million, beside its tuna canning plant in General Santos City.

CNPF president Christopher Po told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Friday that the new facility would be part of the company’s plans to exploit greater trade opportunities arising from the Philippines’ prospective trade agreement with the European Union under the GSP+ program.

Once the Philippine application to the EU Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is approved, Philippine exporters will enjoy zero tariffs on all products covered by the scheme, including animal/vegetable fats and oils, prepared foodstuff, machinery/mechanical appliances, chemical products, textiles/garments and plastic products.

In the case of tuna, Po said, the products are currently slapped with a 24-percent duty by the EU.

“If we get GSP+, that goes down to zero, so there’s a possibility that our export business will increase,” he said.

CNPF’s branded products make up about 80 percent of the canned food manufacturer’s business in the domestic market. Its white-labelled products account for the remaining 20 percent, which are sold overseas to buyers who resell them under their own brand. That mix could change to around 70-30 percent, Po said.

The cold storage facility will also allow the company to better manage the raw materials, Po added.

“We are studying the project…. It’s a project that will take us maybe six to nine months to build after we make the decision,” he said.

CNPF’s capital spending usually ranges from P200 to P250 million each year, excluding the outlay for the cold storage plant. The company recently incorporated a new subsidiary called Allforward Warehousing Inc. to handle its warehouses, he said.

In 2015, the company of the Po family is looking to grow its net profit by 10-15 percent over this year’s level, which is expected to reach P1.5 billion.

Asked whether CNPF had plans on build manufacturing facilities elsewhere in Asia to take advantage of the regional integration expected in 2015, Po said the company would instead focus on improving its current factories by increasing efficiency and adding capability.