Virginia Foods ‘cautious’ in entering Luzon

TO improve its market share nationwide, homegrown Virginia Foods Inc. (VFI) reported that it will take a “cautious approach” in penetrating the Luzon market.

VFI vice president for sales and marketing Stanley Go said VFI is determined to enter Luzon, which holds the largest consumer base in terms of corned beef consumption.

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He said it is one of the markets that remain unexplored by VFI.

“The Virginia brand currently holds one percent of the entire Luzon market but we are hoping to improve its market share by two to three percent in the next two years,” Go said.

VFI currently corners 26 percent of the Visayas and Mindanao market.

The brand ranked fifth in VisMin distribution, competing against other brands like Argentina and Purefoods among others, Go said.

He said increasing their market presence in Luzon is one of the targets of VFI this year.

Go reported a portion of the firm’s capital expenditure of P80 million this year will be allotted to the firm’s expansion in Luzon while a big chunk of the budget will be allocated for the construction of an additional cold storage facility in its factory in Compostela, Cebu.

Go said the cold storage will have a capacity of 1,000 metric tons.