Cosmos sustains impressive sales growth in 3rd quarter

RFM Corp.’s beverage subsidiary, Cosmos Bottling Corp. revealed its advanced sales reports for the period ending September, which showed a phenomenal 34 percent sales growth versus year-ago figures.

Net sales reached a record high of P5.6 billion during the period, up from P4.2 billion last year.

This is on back of sales volume growth of 21 percent, which continued to soar despite the reported sluggishness in the whole softdrinks industry brought about by weaker consumer spending and rainy months. This made Cosmos still the fastest growing softdrinks-maker in the country.

Cosmos chairman and CEO Jose A. Concepcion III, gave most credit to the successful series of brand building campaigns that further elevated Cosmos’ main brand Pop Cola beyond its previous value and price-brand image. "We definitely hit the right marketing campaign and brand positioning, by harping on the message ‘Tama ang Timpla.’ This brought the Pop Cola brand close to the hearts of many Filipinos as we project Pop’s image as having the right cola taste for Filipinos," Concepcion said.

Concepcion added that the Sarsi rootbeer brand also has its separate ads campaign that is likewise successful in making a difference in the market. Rightfully, its campaign on "wannabe iba, and Be Iba" presented Sarsi rootbeer as a good alternative to a cola drink.

"Our investments on these brands are paying-off as they tremendously helped in bringing in the sales. Our recent commercials, which showed new and young talents, likewise helped a lot in projecting a more vibrant and dynamic image to both Cosmos brands, that Filipinos, ‘both the young and the young once,’ can relate to," Concepcion remarked.

These positive developments come at a time when ownership of Cosmos is about to change hands. Concepcion said that "despite the ongoing activities related to the Cosmos sale transaction, such as the detailed due diligence and financial audits being done by SMC/Coke and its auditors, the Cosmos team, led by its president and COO Antonio Panajon, did not lose steam. They continue to have the fighting spirit, thus, keeping the momentum of growth for Cosmos; and we salute them for this."

RFM recently disclosed that the due diligence exercise related to the Cosmos transaction is on its completion stage. This will be followed by discussions on the findings within the next two weeks, while the parties finalize the Share Purchase Agreement.