Middle East retailer entering Philippine market

MANILA, Philippines — Middle East retail giant LuLu is set to make its foray into the Philippine market, seeking to enter the very competitive mall and supermarket landscape, and make the country its sourcing hub in the region.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) director general Charito Plaza said officials from the LuLu group were in the country last Friday to discuss the group’s planned entry into the Philippine market.

Plaza said the group is meeting with suppliers of vegetables, fruits, processed foods and canned goods who they will contract to supply their branches in the Middle East and in other parts of Asia.

 “They came last Friday because they will already start buying food from the Philippines. They plan to put up warehouses and start looking at possible agriculture areas and economic zones where they can raise their vegetables and other crops, and put up other food processing industries to distribute in their different branches in different countries in the world,” Plaza said.

“PEZA is now assisting them in sourcing the products they need. We will talk to our industries as to how much can they supply LuLu. We will help them get sources for their supplies,” she said.  

The LuLu group is a retail powerhouse in the Middle East with over 130 stores. The company is now expanding its presence in countries  like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

For the Philippines, Plaza said LuLu has also expressed plans to build a mall and supermarkets.

“Definitely they will put up a mall and supermarkets here,” she said.

LuLu’s entry would further intensify competition in the already competitive local mall and supermarket landscape currently dominated by the SM Group of the Sy family, Ayala Group of the Zobel de Ayalas, Robinsons of the Gokongweis and Puregold of Lucio Co.

The LuLu Group specializes in hypermarkets or superstores that combine a supermarket and a department store.

According to its website, LuLu hypermarkets “not only dot the cities of the UAE, but have also become the most preferred shopping destinations in Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia India, Indonesia and Malaysia.”