Source: GMA News
Fruit grower and canner Del Monte Pacific Limited is going full blast into fresh pineapple exports, expanding its core business of selling processed products under the Del Monte brand, company officials said Monday.
“What we are promoting is fresh pineapple… It’s better than the processed pineapple,” Ignacio C.O. Sison, chief financial officer, told reporters in briefing in Makati City marking the company’s listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“The variety is superior, it’s a premium grade of pineapple. This is different from canned pineapple,” Sison added.
For processed products alone, the company harvests more than 1.5 million pineapples a day from its farm in Bukidnon, he noted.
The company owns the Del Monte brand in the Philippines, whose core business revolves on processed and canned fruits.
Chief operating officer Luis F. Alejandro said fresh pineapple will be sold under the S&W brand which Del Monte Pacific bought for $10 million in 2007.
“We wanted to bring it to the international market, and specifically using a specific asset, which is the largest, most integrated plantation in Bukidnon. Now with S&W, we now have footprint to grow our branded business in the international market,” he said.
Del Monte Pacific can now sell both processed and fresh pineapple products through S&W, which was not possible under the Del Monte brand.
“Del Monte trademark is only processed product. Whereas with S&W, we can market any kind of products, and in fact we now have a big business in export of fresh pineapple to Korea, Japan, China, and the Middle East under S&W brand,” Alejandro said.
S&W originated in the US as producer and marketer of processed fruit and vegetable products, claiming to be a premium brand globally except in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand.
Also Monday, Del Monte Pacific listed 1.298 billion shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) by way of introduction. It has been listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) since 1999.
This is the first dual listing on the PSE and the SGX.
Controlling shareholder, NutriAsia Pacific Limited, entered into a placement agreement for the sale of 150 million shares at P26.40 apiece, diluting its stake to 67 percent from 78.6 percent.
Net profit jumped to $32.1 million last year, from $27.4 million a year earlier, on record sales of $459.7 million—up 8 percent year-on-year.
Subsidiary Del Monte Philippines owns the 23,000-hectare pineapple plantation in Mindanao, dubbed as the world’s largest pineapple operation with a 700,000-ton processing facility.