San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. aims to further increase its share of the alcoholic beverage market, pushing for more marketing channels in the Visayas and Mindanao for its gin products.
Emmanuel Macalalag, San Miguel Food chief operating officer for spirits, said the gin business has a very good potential in the Visayas and Mindanao.
This even considering Ginebra San Miguel now has 48 percent nationwide market share.
“We are actually pushing for wider distribution and marketing of our brands there (in Visayas and Mindanao). In fact, last year, both Ginebra San Miguel brand and GSM blue performed quite well. They’re growing about 50 percent in terms of volume,” Macalalag said at the company’s shareholders meeting.
“The main objective of the company this year is to further strengthen our market position as a leader in the local spirits industry,” he added.
Carlos Antonio Berba, San Miguel Food director, said the company aims to boost demand and sustain volume for the beer business “by focusing on consumption programs and capturing untapped and underserved market opportunities.”
“These include reinforcing leadership by strengthening the distinctiveness of our SMB (San Miguel Beer) brands, and leveraging on our portfolio with the introduction of new products and package formats in both premium and mainstream segments,” Berba said.
“We will build a stronger consumer base by implementing exciting consumption generating programs and intensifying availability and visibility in the various trade channels with channel-specific initiatives. Likewise, we will also strengthen our no or low alcohol brands in line with our sustainability thrust. And we are confident these programs will provide the growth in returns for the company,” he added.
Last year, San Miguel Foods said its beer business grew sales by 8 percent to P147.3 billion, fueled by higher demand in both local and international markets. Domestic sales rose by 8 percent to P131.7 billion while international revenues edged up by 7 percent.
