Alaska Milk Corp. is looking into sourcing dairy from the local industry.
Maria Angela Esquivel, Alaska corporate affairs director, said the company is exploring potential tie-ups with local farmers as well as institutions like the University of the Philippines’s Dairy Training and Research Institute in Los Banos, Laguna.
The initiative will boost the company’s push into becoming a big player in the milk market, particularly in the fresh milk category of which Alaska sources through export.
Esquivel said the fresh milk category is a fast growing market in the Philippines, particularly in the class A, B, and C income levels.
The initiative also covers other milk categories that Alaska is into.
“Hopefully by the first quarter next year we could come up with a product that’s somehow has a Filipino content,” Esquivel said.
Esquivel said the company, a unit of Dutch Friesland Campina, is looking to grow its sales this year by 20 percent this year.
The company posted a 6 percent growth in sales last year driven by an uptick in Alaska’s culinary, ready-to-drink and coffee creamer categories.
Esquivel said Alaska expects a “strong recovery” on profitability by yearend.
