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By Likha C. Cuevas, Reporter
THE market for healthy
ready-to-drink teas and juices is heating up, and it’s not because
of the approaching summer.
San Miguel Corp., Southeast
Asia’s biggest food and beverage conglomerate, on Wednesday
unveiled plans of its new line of noncarbonated drinks. This after
the Philippine-based company sold its stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers
Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), the local bottler of the world’s most
popular beverage brand.
In a statement, unit San Miguel
Beverage, Inc. (SMBI) said it would launch its new line of healthy
ready-to-drink teas and juices under the Magnolia brand.
“SMBI’s entry into the
domestic beverage business comes at a time when the market is in
search of nutritious but more affordable beverages—from less
calories and sugar to more vitamins and other nutrients—to fill a
nutritional void in consumers’ diet,” the company said.
These affordable products would
be rolled out nationwide soon and would have vitamins and relatively
low sugar content compared to other beverages currently available in
the market, it added.
San Miguel’s new offering would
pit it against multinationals Nestle and Unilever, as well as
against homegrown Universal Robina Corp., manufacturer of the
popular C2 iced tea drink.
Healthy ready-to-drink beverages
have been eroding patronage for carbonated drinks. Last month, San
Miguel sold its stake in CCBPI to Atlanta-headquartered The
Coca-Cola Co. for $590 million, making it the sole owner of the
local bottling company.
Under the terms of the sale, San
Miguel is barred from putting up its own nonalcoholic drink business
in the next five years to keep it from directly competing with CCBPI.
The sale of its stake in CCBPI
supports San Miguel’s more focused business model, which would
emphasize fully owned branded positions.
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