On November 25, Century Pacific Food, Inc. held its 2022 Q3 Town Hall Meeting. 

 

This town hall meeting differs from its predecessors in a very significant way. Held at the LIIP, Laguna plant, the event brought together CPFI employees from sites all over the Philippines in order to celebrate a year of wins. 

 

Over 200 employees crossed the border into Laguna to be there physically, gathering under one roof in a show of vigorous solidarity, and around 600 more attended virtually from different parts of the Philippines to see what their hard work had brought them. These humans of CPFI were greeted by Executive Vice President and General Manager Edwin Raymond Africa, who delivered the welcoming remarks.

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Welcoming Remarks
Starting off strong, he applauded the company’s R&D department for producing the spice mix that is essential to many of the company’s key categories. He was also overjoyed to see that CPFI employees from different locations were now given the chance to mingle with one another. From Centerpoint to Zamboanga to General Santos, employees crossed literal and virtual borders to gather under one roof.

 

He was followed soon after by President and CEO Ted Po. Sir Ted set the stage for the rest of the town hall by acknowledging the efforts of every division in CPFI, saying that it was thanks to their hard work that the company pulled through in the face of a global pandemic. They even delivered on new brands, products, and campaigns during this tumultuous time. He then passed the mic on to EVP and Chief Operations Officer Greg Banzon for an overall look at CPFI’s Q3 performance. 

 

Business Updates
After weathering a worldwide recession and the logistical woes that come with it, CPFI still pulled through with some major wins. Despite Philippine inflation rates rising and the cost of raw materials still exorbitant, CPFI managed to exceed expectations and report the highest volume and revenue performance of 2022.

 

“We perform in good times and we outperform during difficult periods,” Sir Greg stated with pride. “May programa tayo sa paggawa at pangangasiwa ng mga low-end products, kaya lumalaki pa rin ang benta natin. We serve the needs of the low-income consumers.” 

 

This peak performance came in October, the same month that inflation rates hit 7.7% all over the Philippines. Outperform indeed! 

 

But the outperforming doesn’t stop there. When looking at the breakdown of CPFI’s YTD October 2022 Revenue by division, we can see even more wins.  

 

• The Unbranded division grew by 4%. 

• In spite of shipping issues in a challenging global market, Global Brands grew by 2%. 

• Branded, which encompasses all the brands under CPFI, grew in total by 16%, with a 5% growth in volume and an 11% growth in price.

• Food Service, which supplies companies like Jollibee and Mang Inasal, grew by a whopping 27%! Sir Greg attributed this growth to “revenge spending,” as families start eating out again after two years of quarantine.

• The Retail division performed strongly across all business units with 16% growth. 

• Finally, in a challenging market landscape rife with inflation, CPFI saw double digit growth overall at 13%. 

 

Looking deeper into that 16% growth in the Branded division, how did each of CPFI’s brands fair?

• Frozen Meat brands (such as Swift and unMEAT), Export Tuna, and the Coconut Division all grew by 4% each. 

• This was followed by the Canned Meat division—a significant part of CPFI’s total business in terms of volume—which grew by 8%. 

• Canned Tuna, one of CPFI’s most iconic brands, grew by 12%. Seems like the Superbods campaign this year was especially memorable and effective! Superbods winners Kirk Bondad and Christelle Abello were also present to celebrate this major win!

• The fast-growing Dairy Division, which included new entries in the lineup like Choco Hero and Birch Tree Advance, grew by an impressive 18%. Birch Tree reported its highest market share performance of 26.6% this year.

• Excitingly, CPFI’s Emerging Businesses such as Hunt’s and Coco Mama saw a growth of 24%.

• And lastly, the Sardines division saw a spectacular growth of 36%, with CPFI’s acquisition of Ligo boosting sales impressively. This year saw this division’s strongest market performance thus far!

 

Applauses shook the venue as the updates were given. CPFI’s stable growth in spite of a murky and challenging landscape instilled a sense of triumph for everyone in attendance. This was the result of all their hard work—they could now stand proudly alongside an organization capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the industry’s titans, with growth that continues to exceed expectations regardless of difficulty.

 

This was truly a year of wins for CPFI, but these wins didn’t come from nowhere. It came because of the people who attended—from the 200 who were present at the venue to the 600 more who watched from their screens. This is their year of wins too, and as 2022 slowly segues into 2023, we can only ask: are we ready for another?