Philippines: Japan’s Calbee to partner with Universal Robina

Universal Robina Corp (URC), a leading snack and food manufacturer in the Philippines and number two player in the coffee market, is currently discussing a partnership agreement with Japan’s largest snack food company Calbee, Interaksyon reports.

With P600 million of capital, the planned 50-50 joint venture company would manufacture and sell snack foods by April, according to sources.

“In line with our global strategy, we have decided to establish a joint venture company with URC which has strong sales and brands in the Philippine market. The joint venture aims to grow sales of Calbee products and expand market share in the Philippines, one of the promising snack foods markets”, Calbee reported.

“We aim to achieve 4 billion yen of annual net sales within six years of business commencement. We believe the joint venture will contribute to Calbee’s medium to long term business performance”, the Japanese company added.

A definitive agreement will be communicated in the second quarter of the year, URC vice president Mike Liwanag said.

Source: Interaksyon