Snack maker wants bite of RTD juice market

MANILA, Philippines - Kindergarten student Anton loves juice drinks, and he has a new favorite — Smart C — which his school canteen has been selling lately.  His folks approve of it.  Why not? The drink’s plastic bottle label says it has real fruit juice, no artificial flavor, coloring, preservatives or sweeteners. And it claims to have 500 milligrams of vitamin C. 

From the consumer’s standpoint, which nowadays tips toward wellness, this appears to be far better than powdered juice drinks that taste and look too sugary and still need to be mixed with water.  It also has an advantage over tetra-packed juice drinks that taste too acidic and sweet to be taken as healthy.

Well, the new kid on the block carries the popular snack brand Oishi, made by local firm Liwayway Marketing Corp.  It is the company’s first venture into the ready-to-drink (RTD) juice market, after concentrating on producing munchies for the past 38 years.

 “We believe we still have space in the RTD juice market,” says Vice President for Marketing Sheraleen Tiu, despite describing the local RTD juice industry as “saturated.”

According to market research firm Nielsen, local brands Zest-O and Del Monte are so far dominating the RTD juice category, with Zest-O’s affordable pricing making it popular among the masses.

Zest-O is number-one, followed by Del Monte 100% Pineapple Juice, Del Monte Fit ‘n Right, Big 250 (also by Zest-O), Del Monte Juice Drinks, Tropicana Twister by soft drink giant Pepsi, Funchum by competitor Coca Cola, Magnolia Juice, and Minute Maid by local beverage giant-turned-highly diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

As a newcomer, Smart C wants to stand out by offering something different – that is, highlighting its vitamin C content and natural properties, aside from its convenient PET bottle packaging, low price, and fresh-fruit taste.

 “Most juice drinks in the market now have very little vitamin C content,” notes Tiu “so we thought of introducing something that has ample vitamin C, enough to help sustain an active person throughout the day.”

Actually, Smart C’s target market was supposed to be yuppies with active lifestyles, as modeled by celebrity endorser, engineer and TV actor Slater Young.

 “But it doesn’t harm if kids love it, too,” says Tiu, noting that parents nowadays are more discriminating in what their kids eat and drink.

She finds the current media campaign for consumers to read product labels mutually beneficial to both Smart C and the consumers.

The ascorbic acid actually serves as Smart C’s preservative, reveals Tiu.

She ensures that the 500-milligram vitamin C content in each 500 ml. PET bottle is accurate, as each batch is tested for their consistency or content stability at the factory level.  Naturally, the smaller 350 ml. size has a proportional amount of vitamin C.

Liwayway has four factories in the Philippines.  The biggest sits on a 40-hectare lot in Imus, Cavite.

According to Tiu, Smart C has so far accounted for a minuscule five percent of Liwayway’s total production since it reached the store shelves in 2010. Snack foods eat a lion’s share of the company’s production.

Tiu is not telling Smart C’s present share of the local RTD juice market, not even the company’s target and projected market share for the product in the near future.

But, for sure, they got something up their sleeves.  Smart C maker Liwayway is eating up at least a quarter of the Philippine snack food market with its Oishi brand, coming second to Univeral Robina Corporation, which corners almost half of the market, according to Tiu.

Liwayway is a leading snack maker in China, too, where it has 14 manufacturing facilities spread in 10 Chinese provinces, including the vastly populated Shanghai. The company also has four manufacturing plants in Vietnam, and likewise in Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia. Oishi is reportedly the number-one snack brand in Myanmar, as well.

“We just want to keep growing,” says Tiu, who, together with her siblings, is part of the third generation of a Filipino-Chinese family to manage Liwayway and run successful businesses.

Chan Lib and See Ying, immigrants from a small village in Fujian province, China, started the Liwayway business in Manila in 1946 and gave it a name that means “dawn” in Filipino – signifying optimism in the postwar Philippine economy. Initially, the couple bought coffee and starch from wholesalers, then repacked and sold them in smaller sizes.  Their Liwayway Gawgaw—the starch Filipinos used in the olden days to make clothes crisply clean after washing with soap and water—has literally become a household name even to this day. 

The couple’s children, including Tiu’s taipan father, Carlos Chan, incorporated and expanded the family business.  In 1963, they put up Chan C. Bros, which manufactured lighting solutions and kitchen and bathroom fixtures.

In 1974, Tiu’s uncle, Manuel, initiated a prawn cracker business that would soon become what is now popularly known as Oishi, after the Japanese technology used in producing the munchies.  

Fastforward to the present, Oishi is now Liwayway’s main brand and one of Filipinos’ favorite fun snacks.  Marty’s Cracklin’ — Oishi’s “vegetarian chicharon,” made of dehydrated green peas and potatoes in lieu of fatty pork, has made it to the number-one spot in a recent survey of Filipinos’ top-ten favorite munchies.  Incidentally, the survey was done by Spot.ph, a sister company of Oishi’s closest competitor brand Jack ‘n Jill by URC.

Meanwhile, Tiu’s youngest uncle, Ben Chan, founded the Philippines’ largest clothing chain, Bench. Incidentally, too, Sheraleen is married to Jasper Tiu, whose family owns the promising eco-friendly detergent brand Champion.

Although it has been in the store shelves for over a year now, Smart C still in the launch phase, according to Tiu.  But with the new vitamin juice drink getting its way fast to supermarkets, convenience stores, and even schools—and being liked by kids—it won’t be a surprise if this new beverage player in time becomes a winner, too.