Po family, Mekeni eye RFM meat unit

MANILA, Philippines - The Po family’s Century Pacific Group and Pampanga-based Mekeni Food Corp. have reportedly signified interest to acquire the meat business  of the Concepcion family’s RFM Corp.

Various sources said RFM is holding exploratory talks with these two groups for a possible acquisition deal or joint venture with respect to the Swift-branded meat processed and canned meat products like hotdogs, luncheon meat, ham, bacon, corned beef and sausages.       

These products are under RFM and not Swift Foods Inc. (SFI), which is into poultry production.

RFM earlier said it would sell its meat division if it got a good price. It is also open to forging partnerships to enhance the value of its meat processing business.

Century Pacific Group is currently one of the leading, fast-growing and widely diversified companies in the food industry.  Its core business is the canning, marketing, and distribution of marine (tuna, sardine, and other sea foods), meat, and milk products under Century Tuna, Blue Bay, Fresca, Argentina, and 555. It also produces the Wow line prepared meals.

The group is also into the canned milk market with Snow Mountain Dairy Corp. via the liquid and powdered milk brands Angel and Birchtree.  It is also engaged in the fastfood business via Yoshinoya.

Mekeni, on the other hand, is a successful family enterprise engaged in meat processing. Its six-hectare facility, located in Balubad, Porac , Pampanga, is recognized as one of the modern processing plants in the Philippines and duly accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service as a “AAA”, the highest recognition given to meat processing plants.

Acquisition of RFM’s meat division would further strengthen Century Pacific Group or Mekeni’s position in the meat processing business.

SFI is now over 90 percent owned by the public after the Concepcion-led food and beverage firm distributed all its shares in SFI as property dividends to RFM shareholders.

The move was undertaken in line with RFM’s strategy to focus on market leading branded products Selecta ice cream, Fiesta pasta, Selecta Milk, White King flour and Sunkist juices.

SFI will have to cease using Swift in its company name and chicken products because the Swift brand is owned by RFM.

RFM posted first semester earnings of P302 million, up 42 percent from the same period in 2011. This was driven by a 16 percent rise in sales.

Selecta, a dominant leader in the local ice cream industry with a 71 percent market share,  continues to grow its operations with affordable yet exciting innovations in its Cornetto and Classic lines, such as the Selecta Overload, the Selecta super-thick Classics, the Hersheys collection, and the Cornetto disc. 

RFM’s White King Fiesta division, which includes its fast-growing pasta business, has also been performing very well, expanding its market leadership position to 29 percent from 25 percent percent last year.

 In key accounts, Fiesta posted an even larger market share of 38 percent. “The consistently firm pasta quality at affordable pricing levels has made Fiesta more preferred  among pasta brands,” Concepcion said. 

Other White King products such as all-purpose flour, hotcake and flour mixes, Arroz Caldo and Champorado have also captured a good slice of the market that prefers easy-to-prepare Filipino native cakes and hot porridge dishes, with good value-for-money. 

Sales of Selecta milk, Sunkist juice drinks and Swift Corned Beef and Karne Norte in sachets  also  posted double-digit growth rates.