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UNILEVER Philippines Inc. plans to increase its market share in the
food and toiletries categories, the company’s top executive said
Tuesday.
Sanjiv Mehta, outgoing chief executive officer
of the company’s local unit, said in a briefing the company
expects double-digit growth this year.
“The average growth of [our] market share in
food and toiletries category last year had increased by
13-percent,” Mehta said. The company posted sales of about P30
billion, or an increase of 12-percent from the previous year.
On the food segment, Unilever’s market share
rose by 10 percent, especially in the food cubes, mayonnaise,
dressings and seasonings businesses.
Mahta said Selecta has cornered 58 percent of
the ice cream market, adding, “[We] manufacture more ice creams in
small cups, since most of the ice cream eaters are impulsive.”
The executive, who was recently chosen to head
Unilever North Africa and Middle East said that the Philippine unit
intends to further strengthen its presence locally by focusing on
the “sachet market.”
“From ice cream, which are being placed into
the small cups, dressings and toiletries in sachets, [we] believe
that Unilever in the Philippines will be able to further establish
its name to every Filipino home,” Mehta said.
Chito Macapagal, the company’s vice president
for corporate planning, said that the sachet market accounts for 70
percent of the Unilever’s total sales.
“Though [we] import bottled shampoos and other
bottled products from neighboring Unilever offices, [we] manufacture
the sachet categories locally, since the bulk of [our] sales come
from this market,” he said.
Macapagal said that the newly established P1.3
billion “global plant” for its deodorant lines will be
commercially operational in May this year.
“[Once] operational, the facility will beef up
[our] capacity up to 150 million units of stick deodorants and 80
million units of roll-ons,” he said.
He said that 80 percent of the facility’s
produce will be exported to the US, Middle East, Europe, Africa,
Australia and neighboring countries. These deodorant brands include
Rexona, Axe and Dove.
-- Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
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