MONDE Nissin Corp. is looking to exit its investment in Figaro Coffee Group a year after entering the venture, citing a miscalculation on the business’ prospects.
The company is also restructuring its alternative meat business and expecting the business to be earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) positive by next year.
“We have to admit that initially we thought the brand of Figaro can help us enter into the new category there. But we find out that the possibility is slim. We are today trying to look for the exit on this. But basically we said that investing in Figaro, hoping that we will bring the brand into the consumer segment, has not been successful,” said Henry Soesanto, Monde chief executive officer, during the company’s briefing for its nine months result last week.
Soesanto, meanwhile, said the company plans to reset the operation of its meat alternative business Quorn Foods that is reeling from a challenging market.
In the first nine months of the year, the business contracted by 5.6 percent to P10.1 billion in sales from P10.7 billion last year. It posted a P655 million loss for the period, down 13.7 percent from P759 million last year.
“As such, we must take further measures to ensure the strength of the business for both short term and long term. We need to be more flexible and resilient, focusing on cost efficiency and cash generations. We plan to reset the operation through a restructuring and business transformation efforts which will affect all parts of the organization,” Soesanto said.
“This will be accompanied by a transformation of our supply chain, which is expected to take some some time to complete, while most of other changes will be implemented by early next year,” he added.
Last week, Monde Nissin disclosed that Quorn Foods head Marco Bertacca is exiting, to be replaced by David Flochel in January.
“We are targeting to be EBITDA positive in 2025 with a total cash savings of around GBP8 million pounds in 2024 and 2025, and recurring annual cash saving of more than GBP8 million per year from restructuring savings beginning 2026,” Soesanto said.
“The cost to implement will be approximately 8 million pound in 2024 and 2025 full supply chain transformation plans are being worked out, and additional opportunities not included in these figures are being developed. We expect to provide further details next year,” he added.
