Oishi joins the coffee war

Every time I chat with low-key taipan Carlos Chan, the chairman of snack foods giant Liwayway Group and the country’s special envoy to China, I learn something new — it could be about the country, his company, or life in general. 

Over lunch recently, I was pleasantly surprised to hear about his company’s foray into the instant coffee business. He was beaming with excitement when he shared with me the news that there is now an Oishi coffee and it’s called “Hi Coffee.” 

There’s no special reason for the name, and neither is it an acronym. It is what it is — a warm coffee greeting, as warm as when we say “hi” to our loved ones. 

Mr. Chan was proud to share his company’s dip into the coffee business. It’s the first time the Liwayway Group is introducing a coffee brand and I think it’s a bold move given the cut-throat competition in the coffee business.

Liwayway is the company behind the iconic snack foods brand, Oishi. 

Oishi has a wide array of savory snacks and even some confectionery. It has juices, too, but it is only now that it is introducing an instant coffee brand. 

Chan’s son Oszen, president of Liwayway Philippines, said they just wanted to try their luck in the category. 

“It was just to try out the category. We released the three-in-one coffee and ready-to-drink coffee,” Oszen said.

Oszen said the company is just a small player in both categories. 

It won’t be easy. Last year, Gokongwei-owned Universal Robina Corp. said foreign brands have dislodged its Great Taste Coffee in the top spot.

URC is working hard to regain market leadership in the category.

Irwin Lee, the company’s new president and CEO said last year that the coffee business has been challenging indeed.

“The challenge is in the coffee wars. It’s not just Coke versus Pepsi, or laundry, or shampoo wars, there’s also coffee wars so that is where we’re focusing our efforts,” he said.

URC’s flagship brand Great Taste Coffee was previously the top brand in the Philippines, but intense competition from Indonesian brand Kopiko and Nestle’s Nescafe has challenged its position as market leader.

Indeed, it’s now a three-way game among Kopiko, Nescafe, and Great Taste. 

Given this backdrop, I’m sure it won’t be easy for Oishi.

But I also believe that the company is a veteran when it comes to exploring new and competitive markets. 

It has braved many markets in different categories not just in the Philippines, but also all over the world.

For instance, its salted egg chips have easily become a hit here in the country among those who are crazy for the product. 

Before our lunch meeting ended, Mr. Chan insisted that I try a cup of Hi Coffee. I did. It was served with ice and I liked it. I also tried it hot and it suited my coffee buds too, with its thick and rich blend.

Now only time will tell whether Filipino brands can regain the leadership in the instant coffee business. But the competition is beneficial to consumers because they have more choices. 

It is now a four-way game with Oishi joining the fray. Congratulations Mr. Chan and Oishi. I am sure many coffee lovers will get high on Hi. 

Bangko Sentral ng  Pilipinas air side

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo reacted to my column last Monday on forecasting. 

I could almost hear his booming voice while reading his message and I’m sure he would have called me to his office if I was still covering the beat. Thank you Gov. Diwa — my fellow Philippine Collegian alumni (he was EIC from 1975 to 1976; I, a features writer, decades later) — for sending this. In the interest of fairness, I print it in full. I’m also sharing a portion of your speech.

“Iris, just to clarify certain things that should provide your column today with the correct context. BSP does not blame anybody for writing or analyzing market developments including on inflation and growth. Everyone is entitled to his view.  However, as my EJAP (Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines) speech clearly clarified, what we don’t support is incorrect analysis, less than rigorous appreciation of the data. With such patchy work, analysts could influence market sentiment and expectations. We are not arguing against forecasts. Everybody makes a mistake. It’s the analysis. Let’s be fair.”

And here is a portion of his recent speech to economic journalists:

“Despite this monetary truism, some market analysts opted to write about run-away inflation that would require immediate decisive monetary policy tightening. What drives inflation — whether supply or demand — appeared to have been set aside and monetary policy was immediately called to task. Unfortunately, even the BSP’s very careful stance of monetary policy was described as behind the curve. It was, of course, very easy for the Monetary Board to have immediately jacked up interest rates at the initial sign of an increase in the headline inflation rate, but if sustained, that would have some corrosive impact on economic growth and ultimately on inflation itself. Because of such pervasive, incessant assessment of high inflation rate — always characterized as the highest in many years — without considering the BSP’s persistent messaging that inflation would peak in the third quarter and return to the inflation target of two to four percent by 2019 and 2020, market players were conditioned to thinking that inflation would be long-lived.” 

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales.