SMC gets license to manufacture non-alcoholic beverages in China

Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) obtained a new business license in China, allowing it to manufacture non-alcoholic beverages such as tea and juices.

The business license, issued by the Industrial and Commerical Administrative Bureau of Shunde District, Foshan City and the Foreign Funded Enterprise Registration Administration, is essential for the manufacture and sale of SMC products in the area.

The license also provides SMC with incentives and preferential treatment from the relevant government bureaus for a period of 50 years or until March 2054.

SMC will invest a total of $45 million for the construction of a new facility in Shunde, Guangdong Province. The venture to be called San Miguel (Guangdong) Foods & Beverages Co. Ltd. will be beside the existing Shunde brewery.

SMC views the Shunde investment as strategic to the company’s long-term growth prospects. Shunde’s infrastructure and business-friendly incentives will not only provide San Miguel with strategic access to the huge market but also cash in on China’s impressive economic growth.

The company has existing breweries in China namely: Guangzhou San Miguel Brewery Co., Ltd.; San Miguel Shunde Brewery Co., Ltd.; San Miguel Bada Baoding Brewery Co., Ltd. and the San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong, Ltd.

SMC has a long-standing business relationship with the Chinese people since the founding of the Hong Kong brewery in 1948. It also produces and markets both locally and for export – glass containers in China through its Zhaoqing San Miguel Glass Co.

The food and beverage conglomerate also operates a crown line and plastic crates and pallets in San Miguel Shunde Packaging Co.

SMC has been aggressively pursuing its expansion program in the Asian region. It earlier obtained an investment license from the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province, allowing the company’s expansion in Vietnam. It had also secured a license in Indonesia last year.

Also, just recently, SMC broke ground in Amata City, one of the most vibrant industrial estates in Thailand, for the construction of a non-alcoholic beverage facility.