Monde acquires 70% of startup Amico

Snack food maker Monde Nissin Corp., is investing P17.5 million into an up-and-coming startup firm as the company behind Lucky Me! instant noodles seeks to explore other segments in the market while trying to plug the bleeding in its alternative meat business.

Monde, which also manufactures SkyFlakes crackers, on Tuesday said it was set to buy 87,500 shares in — or 70 percent of — Amico Innovations Inc. for P200 each before the end of the month.

According to Monde, Amico is “in the process” of applying for incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Amico is a seeking license to mainly import, export, repack and process “all kinds” of goods, wares and merchandise, Monde said in a stock exchange filing.

The acquisition was meant mainly for Monde to “[explore] startup opportunities in new categories and businesses.”

This new business venture comes as Monde seeks to further pare losses from Quorn Foods, its alternative meat business.

Quorn cut its net loss in the first semester to P486 million from P546 million in the same period last year as the segment remained challenging to navigate due to changing consumer preferences.

In May, Quorn CEO Marco Bertacca said pricing was a particular barrier to attracting more “flexitarian” customers, or those with a semi-vegetarian diet, as they moved to less expensive choices.

Monde also said it would continue minimizing costs for Quorn and look for “efficiencies” that could bring customers back to the fake meat category.

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Last year, the company announced plans to restructure Quorn after inflation headwinds in 2022 stifled growth.

Monde had reallocated P2.1 billion in initial public offering proceeds previously meant for Quorn to the Asia-Pacific food and beverage segment.

This segment continued to be Monde’s main growth driver in the January to June period, helping the group’s core earnings surge by 45.5-percent to P5.1 billion.

Food and beverage alone recorded a 37.9-percent core rise in profit to P5.6 billion on volume growth in noodles and other categories.