Century Pacific counts on milk, coconut products to fuel growth
Po family-led Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) expects its milk and emerging segments to drive its aspiration of growing at a pace double that of the Philippine economy this year as it navigates a challenging export environment.
CNPF vice chair, president and CEO Teodoro Po on Monday said the milk business under Angel Evaporada and Birch Tree “has more room for growth.”
“We continue to find white spaces and niche markets … we will certainly continue to invest in the milk segment as we do across all of our core businesses,” Po said during their annual stockholders’ meeting.
CNPF’s milk and emerging businesses, which include coconut products and pet food, accounted for 33 percent of the company’s total revenues last year, up from 30 percent in 2023.
This is already close to the share of CNPF’s legacy marine segment—Century Tuna, 555 and Ligo sardines—at 40.5 percent as of last year.
According to Po, the wet pet food category under the Goodest brand, which was launched in 2021 as the Philippines’ first locally produced pet food, also continued to gain traction.
Although still cautious, they were “making gradual moves” into the dry pet food segment, especially since pet ownership continued to rise in the country.
CNPF chair Christopher Po also explained that pursuing their goal of growing by 10 to 15 percent this year, or double the Philippines’ projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5 to 6 percent, would mainly involve investing in and managing their portfolio.
“We believe [the dairy business] still has a long runway, especially as the middle class grows and the desire for protein and healthier diets increases,” he said.
Double-digit growth
CNPF sees double-digit growth for the milk and emerging segments this year, while the meat and marine businesses are expected to expand at the same pace as the country’s economy.
“That’s all underpinned by the assumption that the economy will grow 5 to 6 percent, which we have historically in the last 20 years,” Christopher Po added.
The company is expecting these segments to offset the impact of the global tariff war on its export business, including coconut water and tuna.
Christopher Po earlier told the Inquirer that the United States accounted for only 5 percent of CNPF’s total sales, such that the company would see only minimal impact from the 17-percent tariff imposed on goods coming from the Philippines.
