IN ITS bid to develop more products and expand markets, the country’s top rum maker Tanduay Distillers Inc. is eyeing to strengthen its international presence starting this year.
Chief financial officer of Nestor Mendones, at the sidelines of the media tour at Asian Alcohol Corporation in Pulupandan town on Wednesday, January 16, said the company currently has markets in at least five states in the United States.
These are on top of the recently penetrated markets in Guam, China, and Australia and soon in some parts of Europe.
In terms of volume, Mendones reported that Tanduay sold about 5,000 cases internationally through local distributors based in other countries.
“Aside from expanding markets abroad, the company is also going into the direction of coming up a higher premium blend in the coming years,” he said, adding they are intensifying the efforts to give a higher percentage to both international and domestic markets.
Domestically, Tanduay has sold about 20 million cases of products in 2018. It targets to distribute five percent more this year.
Hosting some of the firm’s plants, the Visayas, along with Mindanao, evidently has the biggest market share of Tanduay in the Philippines.
Mendones, though, said there is still room for growth in Visayas and Mindanao. Thus, the company also eyes to gain a higher control here in these regions from 70 to 80 percent.
Luzon market only accounts for two percent share, which the company targets to increase up to five percent in 2020.
“We are still growing, there is still a lot to grow especially in Luzon,” Mendones said, as he stressed that by expanding its markets abroad, Tanduay will not change its primary market from domestic to international.
Mendones said the beverage company will continue to be its bread and butter. It will continue to be a product that caters to the Filipino consumers.
“It is at the heart of the culture of Lucio Tan’s group the vision of coming up with products that of high quality yet affordable to many,” he added.
Anniversary
Market expansion and development of more premium blend are just among the “big things” the beverage company is venturing this year as it marks its 165th anniversary.
Established in 1854, Tanduay is one of the oldest existing liquor companies in the country.
It is a member of the Lucio Tan Group of Companies, and the oldest among the subsidiaries and carries with it the distinction of being one of the biggest brands in the distilled spirits category with a 99 percent share in the rum category.
Corporate Communications Manager Pai Alvarado said as the company prepares for a new scene, the larger market, they are starting the celebration of the milestone with a campaign on Filipinos owning the product itself.
Alvarado said Tanduay celebrates the timeless Filipino craftsmanship and tradition in producing distilled spirits.
“Rum is something that we have to own as Filipinos, this is what we would like to campaign,” she said, adding that “bringing it first in Negros Occidental will help us explain what kind of celebration we want to communicate.”
“Our heritage is about where our source comes from,” Alvarado added.
The company owns Tanduay Distillers plant in Murcia and the Asian Alcohol Corporation in Pulupandan, all in Negros Occidental.
Also, the company seeks to tell its story through various projects leading to the celebration this year, including a coffee table book and a museum on top of other events like the media tour to the company’s plants.
The coffee table book will feature the people of Tanduay. This is the effort of the company to give a face behind the success of the brand.
The company will turn the old Quiapo distillery into a brand museum that will contain the long history of Tanduay, and the process from farm to table or sugarcane to rum in a multi-sensory experience, among others.
For his part, rum brand owner Tan said that as they celebrate the 165th anniversary of Tanduay, they are giving credit to the people who have made the company as world's number one rum.
They are the often unrecognized people, who silently enjoy and consistently patronize Tanduay, Tan said.
“They are the fisherfolk, farmers, chefs, balikbayans, working class, young professionals, and every Filipino who celebrate life,” the business tycoon said, adding that “we are grateful to all of you.”