MANILA, Philippines–The local unit of Mondelez International, one of the largest snack companies in the world, is bullish that sales of its brands in the Philippines this year will grow at a faster pace than competing brands, on the back of an aggressive marketing campaign to “localize” its products.
Ashish Pisharodi, country head of Mondelez Philippines Inc. (formerly Kraft Foods), said the company was expecting mature brands such as powdered beverage Tang, block cheese Eden, and bread fill Cheez Whiz to continue growing although at a slower pace. The company is, however, making an aggressive push for its fast-growing brands under the biscuits and confectionery categories, which include Oreo, Cadbury and Toblerone.
“We (continue) to win over the Philippine market. The earliest brands that we launched in the Philippines, which are our legacy brands, are Tang, Eden and Cheez Whiz. But we are determined to rebalance our portfolio in line with our strategic objective to grow aggressively in the confectionery and biscuits,” Pisharodi said.
The Mondelez Philippines chief, however, declined to cite specific growth targets, except to note that the overall biscuits category in the Philippines typically posts a single digit growth, while the chocolates segment often register double-digit increase.
The cheese segment usually posts strong single digit growth, while that of the powdered beverage can be volatile, depending largely on the weather situation, among other factors, he added.
Last year, the different brands of Mondelez Philippines posted growth faster than what were recorded by their respective categories.
“Last year was a year that took us to some of our ambitions that we have in the Philippines. Last year, we had one of our best years for snacks. In fact, all our brands gained market shares. They grew faster than the categories, and exceeded their targets,” Pisharodi said.
“We are the market leaders in the powdered beverage category with Tang. We’re also the leader in block cheese with Eden, and the leading cheese spread with Cheez Whiz. These are our brands with leading market positions. Our snack brands were not leaders but if you look at their growth over the last 12 months, our confectionery and biscuits brands are among the fastest-growing in the market,” he further disclosed.
To sustain this growth, Mondelez Philippines has introduced over the last several months new products that will cater distinctly to the Filipino market. These include the Eden Mayo, Eden Sandwich Spread, Oreo Coconut Delight, and the Tang Citrus flavors namely Calamansi, Dalandan and Honey Lemon.