Coca-Cola unit eyes higher sales in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Coca-Cola Co.’s franchise bottler in the Philippines intends to expand volume sales of existing products in the local market despite the transfer of its concentrate production from the Philippines to Singapore.

Mexico-based Coca-Cola FEMSA completed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines  (CCPI) in January for $688. 5 million.

This is the first expansion activity of Coca-Coca FEMSA outside of Latin America.

Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines Corporate Affairs director Juan Dominguez said the expansion activities of the firm will focus for now on increased market coverage of its existing products, capitalizing on the strong domestic consumption.

He said bottling and distribution activities for this year are expected to grow at around five to six percent, in the same direction as the Philippine economy.

“The expansion will be done in terms of coverage and volume. The Philippines has a very big growth opportunity. The macro-economic figures for the Philippines are very positive for the coming years. We are here to grow with the Philippine economy,” said Dominguez.

He noted that in 2012, the company sold around 530 million unit cases of beverages. Coca-Cola Bottlers currently has 23 production plants nationwide that serve almost 800,000 consumers.

Dominguez said the company will focus more on the expansion of its production and distribution line rather than putting up additional infrastructure.

“We still do not have full use of our infrastructure. So expansion plans are based on the current infrastructure we have and we believe we still have a big potential with the plants that we operate at this point. We believe growth can be achieved with this,” he said.