Pure Foods continues profit run in Quarter 1

Pure Foods Corp. reported continued profitability for the first quarter of the year even at the height of depressed consumer demand.

Although Pure Foods president Renato Montemayor said there are no official figures available yet, the company’s performance in the first three months remains on positive ground, boosted by the "surprisingly strong" sales from January to February.

He said while there was a noticeable slowdown last March, as measured by the weakening in their processed meat division, growth was still evident compared to the same quarter last year due to the increase in volume and better operating efficiency, not as much as due to price increases.

Pure Foods senior vice president for poultry and livestock Ronald Mascarinas said a major factor in the growth of the company’s business was the improve sales in the poultry sector, which last year was unfavorably affected by the rampant dumping of chicken products.

He said their sales begun to recover since the last quarter of 2000 and still carried over the past quarter, as the so-called mad cow scare in cattle as well as the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in swine caused a temporary shift in consumers’ preference from beef and pork to chicken.

The poultry, livestock and feeds division, in turn, has dislodged the processed meat division – the joint venture Pure Foods Hormel Co. – as the biggest contributor to the parent company’s bottom line, Mascarinas said. – Conrado Diaz Jr.