California Manufacturing sees 15% growth in sales this year

Food maker California Manufacturing Co. (CMC) sees a 15-percent growth in sales this year following the decision of its parent firm, food and cosmetics giant Unilever to strengthen further its food operations across Asia.

CMC managing director and chief executive officer Marcial A. Aaron said yesterday that they expect the firm’s sales for 2003 to surge by 15 percent from P7 billion in 2002.

CMC best know brands are Alsa, Best Foods, Karo, Knorr, Lady’s Choice, Lipton and Skippy.

Aaron said CMC’s three global brands are Knorr, Lipton and Skippy, while Best Foods and Lady’s Choice are regional brands known only in Asia.

Aside from its domestic production, CMC is now exporting its Knorr, Lady’s Choice, Lipton, Bestfoods and Alsa products with total sales of about P300 million annually.

"CMC’s export markets are countries where there is a big Filipino community," Aaron said.

These include the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Australasia, Micronesia, Guam and Papua New Guinea.

"CMC’s exports is more a commitment of the company to satisfy the Filipino consumers even though it is still not a major revenue earner for the company," Aaron said.

CMC’s parent firm Unilever, has recently agreed to acquire the outstanding shares in Corn Products Corp. (CPC) and Aji Asia from Japan’s Ajinomoto Co.Inc.