The Philippines: San Miguel Food and Beverages have started to recover with the gradual re-opening of the economy

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation reported that its food and beverage businesses under San Miguel Food and Beverages have started to recover with the gradual re-opening of the economy, the Manila Bulletin said on July 30.

“With the government’s easing of restrictions on transportation, the operation of business establishments, and consumption of alcoholic beverages, we’ve been recovering a lot of lost ground,” said SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang.

He noted that, “Recovery started around second half of May to June, when government gradually restarted our economy and kept it going.”

Ang said that, for SMC, the re-opening, even with limitations has had a “domino effect” on smaller businesses in its supply chain.

“With consumption up, many of our own employees and those of our partners, dealers, suppliers, contract growers, and service providers are working again. On top of that, nationwide, a lot of micro, small, to medium enterprises—from sari-sari stores, retailers, bottle collectors, haulers, and the like—are also able to resume their business and livelihood,” Ang said.

He added that, “This helps ensure that more Filipinos won’t go hungry and are more resilient to the impact of this crisis.”

San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), the country’s top beer manufacturer, said it was looking at better business performance entering the second half of 2020.

Since the transition to lower quarantine levels, SMB has restarted operations at production facilities nationwide, as well as the transport and distribution of its products, while strictly observing modified liquor ban guidelines in specific cities and municipalities.

The easing of restrictions has also allowed SMB’s business partners and outlets to operate on a limited scale, following DOH health standards and social distancing protocols.

San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI), has also seen improvements in its revenues starting June. While the company was able to maintain essential food production throughout the ECQ, it was still affected by the closure of many food service and retail establishments and decreased foot traffic in markets.

However, it was able to implement various programs to address consumer demand and increase food availability and sufficiency. These include the rollout of mobile stores, community selling in barangays and villages, mobilizing a network of community resellers, and utilization of online ordering platforms and home delivery.

SMFB liquor unit Ginebra San Miguel Inc.’s (GSMI) volumes have also increased since more areas transitioned to modified ECQ to general ECQ. From practically zero business activity in April, it was able to turn in record monthly volumes in June.

“It’s not just our food and beverage businesses that are starting to recover. Even Power, Infrastructure, Fuels, have started seeing improvements in their industries,” said Ang.

Ang however added that until there is a cure for the virus, there will always be uncertainty for businesses. “For some businesses, recovery has been strong, for others, gradual. For some, it’s slower. I think this goes for all businesses and various industries. However, we recognize that the threat of the pandemic is still here. We cannot go all out in terms of operations and activities. As companies, we need to be accountable and responsible for ensuring the safety of our employees and customers,” he said.

30 July, 2020