Century Pacific tuna unit gets tax perks

MANILA, Philippines - General Tuna Corp., the export arm of canning firm Century Pacific Group has qualified for tax perks for its P120 million tuna expansion project in General Santos City.

In a statement yesterday, the Board of Investments (BOI) said it approved the application for registration of General Tuna for its tuna facility.

“The BOI approved last week the registration of General Tuna, an export producer of frozen tuna loins with an annual capacity of 374,727 cases or 7,495 metric tons (MT),”it said.

By being registered with the BOI, the company will be entitled to incentives such as income tax holidays.

The company intends to ship the frozen tuna loins to countries like Thailand, Japan, and the Middle East.

The project will start its commercial operations in February 2013 and is expected to generate 350 jobs.

General Tuna manufactures private label canned, pouched and frozen tuna products.

The firm’s plant which was initially located in Taguig City moved to General Santos in 1999 given the proximity to the Western Pacific Ocean, its source of supply.

Century Pacific was established in 1978 as Century Canning Corp.

Century Pacific Group is behind the brands Century Tuna, 555 Tuna, Blue Bay Tuna and Fresca Tuna.

Century Pacific Group likewise owns Argentina Corned Beef, Angel Filled Milk, Birch Tree Powdered Milk, Kaffe de Oro, Yoshinoya and WOW brands.

The BOI said the project is expected to help boost the country’s tuna exports.

Production and manufacture of export products is among the activities being promoted by the BOI under the Investment Priorities Plan 2012 or the country’s blueprint for investment promotions.