Asia Brewery unit to invest P1B in yogurt plant
AB Pascual Foods, the yogurt business under Lucio Tan-led Asia Brewery Inc., is investing P1 billion to construct a long-life yogurt production facility in Laguna, touted to be the first of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
Michael Tan, president and chief operating officer of Asia Brewery, said the planned facility would enable them to rely on local production to meet their local yogurt requirements and eventually export to other markets in the region.
“It will also mark a breakthrough for the industry as we will be producing locally made long-life yogurt, a first in the Philippines and first in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” Tan said in his speech during the National Dairy Authority’s event in Manila.
Tan said the plant that would produce shelf-stable and long-life yogurt, which will rise beside Asia Brewery’s manufacturing complex in Cabuyao, Laguna, will allow the company to produce dairy on a larger scale.
Construction is set to begin “soon,” with the facility targeted for completion within two years. Tan said the company would rely mainly on internally generated funds to bankroll the project.
“We don’t have to worry that it’s going to spoil. Because there are many islands in the Philippines, so by the time we get to Mindanao, that’s a few days. Fresh yogurt is 30 days shelf-life. This is much longer,” Tan said on the sidelines of the event on Wednesday.
AB Pascual Holdings Pte. Ltd.—a joint venture between Asia Brewery and Spanish dairy company Calidad Pascual—currently imports yogurt from Spain and distributes it to the Philippines through the Pascual Creamy Delight Brand.
The brand offers different yogurt variants: original, nonfat, thick and creamy and Greek style.
The company also has a manufacturing plant that produces dairy and soy milk-based beverages located in Sta. Rosa, also in Laguna.
Tan said Asia Brewery sees growing local demand for yogurt as Filipino consumers are becoming more health-conscious.
“Filipinos are learning how to eat yogurt … People are becoming more aware,” he told reporters.
Asia Brewery is one of the subsidiaries of the listed holding company LT Group. led by tycoon Lucio Tan. It offers alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage products, such as Asahi Super Dry, Colt 45, Beer na Beer, Cobra, Vitamilk, Absolute, Summit and Pascual yogurt.
Pascual accounted for 45 percent of the local yogurt market in 2024.
