Concepcion Industrial to undertake transformation

MANILA, Philippines — The Concepcion family’s Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC), a provider of consumer lifestyle and enterprise solutions, is looking to follow in the footsteps of some of the country’s biggest conglomerates as it embarks on a transformation initiative aimed at scaling up its business.

“For us to expand our business, I think very much like San Miguel, which moved from a beverage company, today, it is an infra company. You look at Aboitiz and even Ayala. They have transformed this company from its traditional base and basically expanded. And that’s what we’re trying to do also in terms of our direction,” CIC chairman and president Raul Joseph Concepcion said.

CIC chief executive officer Ariel Fermin said the future for the listed company is going beyond air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines.

From a cooling solutions provider, CIC has expanded its portfolio of products and services designed for the needs of every Filipino home and business.

The company has evolved into an industry leader offering a wide-array of home and business solutions dedicated to delivering value to its customers and partners.

“What is fundamentally happening to us is that we are transforming ourselves from being a manufacturing and product company to a marketing company, a customer-centric company, a distribution company, so much so that air conditioners and refs will still be part of that,” Fermin said.

“In the future, and we’ve plotted this in the next five years, there are some pivots that we’re making, and there are a lot of moving parts, none bigger than the ones that you’ve probably observed as a consumer yourself or someone in the industry, along the lines of brand, along the lines of product, along the lines of what we refer to as broader market,” he said.

Fermin said that CIC has established an ecosystem and a blueprint for sustainable growth.

“So years from now, when we have this conversation again, or perhaps not too long from now, then you’ll say, are you still an AC and ref company? The answer is not necessarily,” Fermin said.

“It may be how we started, but the ending might be quite different. We are a company that serves customers’ needs beyond air conditioners and refs, and that’s really the transformation that we expect ourselves to pursue in the next few years,” he said.

For its air conditioning solutions, Concepcion said that the company is looking at various airports in the country, such as those in Bacolod, Iloilo, Bohol and Cagayan de Oro.