MANILA, Philippines — Mega Global Corp., maker of the country’s top sardines brand, has increased its investment for its planned manufacturing plant in Luzon to P1 billion.
In a virtual briefing Friday, Mega Global founder and chief executive officer William Tiu Lim said further studies and discussion revealed that there is a need to double the original P500 million allocation for the company’s production plant in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
“This will further boost economic growth and provide more livelihood. We also plan to make the whole plant more diversified,” Lim said.
Mega Global, which makes canned food products such as sardines, tuna, vegetables, as well as noodles and sauces, has its original canning facilities in Zamboanga.
Lim said the Luzon plant, which is targeted for completion in August 2021, would help save up on logistics and improve its efficiency.
The facility will increase Mega Global’s production capacity by 30 to 50 percent from the current capacity of 300 metric tons a year of its Zamboanga operations.
The plant will include a warehouse, a fish meal plant with zero waste system and cold storage facility.
It aims to meet the growing demand for canned goods both in Luzon and abroad and help in the recovery of the national economy.
“Due to the pandemic and the natural calamities, we have been getting double digit growth sales. The plant will allow us to produce more so that in times of need, the products are there,” Mega Global chief technical and innovations officer Malcolm Lim said.
The facility will directly create over 1,000 new jobs and will run using energy-efficient light source to minimize its carbon footprint.
It will increase Mega Global’s production capacity by 30 to 50 percent from the current capacity of 300 metric tons a year.
Lim said the new plant would help increase export of its canned sardines to the Middle East, Central America and Canada, and would serve as a stepping stone to venture into other consumer categories.
Of all its 26 brands, Mega Global holds a 30 percent market share and targets to increase this further in the next three to five years.