Tetra Pak might scale up in PH, but not yet
Packaging maker Tetra Pak is not closing its doors on expanding its services in the Philippines to include food containers, according to a company official.
Larry Tobias Jr., business development director at Tetra Pak, on Friday told reporters the entry of the company’s packaging for solid food products was “a work in progress.”
Tobias added that they wanted to bring “as many sustainable solutions into the Philippine market” as possible.
Tetra Pak has been operating in the Philippines for nearly four decades. It currently provides packaging for juice, water and dairy products in the country.
The company has yet to penetrate the food segment, Tobias said, as they still need to gauge overall demand.
The Philippines currently makes up only a small share of Tetra Pak’s client base, which mostly seeks its services for dairy products.
A total of 55 percent of its products go to Vietnam. Meanwhile, 29 percent collectively go to Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Despite the small market share, the Philippines is still a “very strategic market,” according to Tobias.
“We have a very young population compared to other [Southeast Asian] countries … We can see that the market is developing,” he added.
For now, Tobias said they were focusing on segmenting their categories even further. While Tetra Pak has been packaging milk products in the Philippines, Tobias said they have already expanded to include all-purpose cream products.
“That’s a proof of growth for the market … we can see a lot of innovations and some of the products are fairly unique in the Philippine market,” he said.
This potential expansion in the Philippines comes as part of Tetra Pak’s massive sustainability agenda.
Based on its 2024 sustainability report, Tetra Pak has cut its greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 54 percent.
This keeps the firm on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, Tetra Pak Asean sustainability director Terrynz Tan said during a press conference.
Last year, Tetra Pak spent 100 million euros in sustainability research and development, specifically for the improvement of its packaging products.
“It’s a continuous investment,” Tan added.
