The sardine industry is headed to a flat performance this year, plagued by rising cost of production.
“It’s not growing. It’s a tough time for the whole industry,” said Marvin Tiu Lim, Mega Prime chief growth and development officer, on the sidelines of the launch of the Mega Bigay Sustansya (MBS) Program.
Tiu Lim was citing projections made by Nielsen on the industry.
Tiu Lim said Mega Prime is seen tracking industry trends this year, normalizing to pre-pandemic sales.
Mega Prime was one of the few companies that did well during the lockdowns.
“(The price of ) Sardines has increased so much in the last year. So some of our consumers are not able to purchase it anymore. They tend to downgrade to less nutritious foods,” Tiu Lim said.
Mega Sardines has increased its price by P1 this month to a range of P22-P24 per can.
Mega Prime’s more affordable variant, corned sardines, has been doing exceptionally well since its launch two years ago, according to Tiu Lim.
Priced at P15 per can, Mega Corned Sardines is the number one stock keeping unit (SKU) of the company’s products on electronic commerce.
Mega Prime enjoys a near dominant market leadership in the sardine market estimated at P20 billion to P30 billion.
Despite the expected flat performance of the company and the industry, Mega Sardines is growing its market share.
Tiu Lim attributed this to “our initiatives that we’re doing internally and in our distribution efforts.”
“We have a lot of different competitors out there. It’s a big market and we’re here to help make it bigger,” he said.
According to Tiu Lim, Mega Prime’s initial public offering (IPO) plans are still in the works, although the company is looking at a three- to five-year horizon.
“ We’re making sure that we professionalize the company, (that) we’re transparent and we’re making sure that we’re ready (when we have the IPO). However, the market conditions right now are not good. So we’re in a wait- and- see situation right now. We’’re making sure that the fundamentals are strong,” Tiu Lim said.
He said Mega Prime’s other brands are growing: the tuna line, vegetable line, spices and sauces.
About 30 percent of Mega Prime SKUs are non-sardines.
Mega Prime yesterday said Mega Tiu Lim Foundation is holding for the fifth year the MBS in tandem with Reach Out and Feed Philippines, Department of Education, the Department of Science and Technology and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
The program is anchored on a School-based Feeding Initiative covering 120 days for 500 students aged 4 to 7 in Regions 4-A, Region 8 and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
