LOCAL FOOD FIRM EYES EUROPE, AUSTRALIA

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CENTURY Pacific Food Inc. is eyeing Europe and Australia as the next markets for its plant-based brand unMeat.

CNPF chief operating officer Gregory Banzon said the company was scouting for new markets for its plant-based products following the early success in the United States and Singapore.

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Banzon said the company’s unMeat products would soon be available in stores in Australia, and they also were studying opportunities in Europe.

“Because of the early success we are seeing in the US, we are scoping other opportunities and we are doing developmental works in other markets,” Banzon said.

“We are studying opportunities in Europe. Before we enter a market, there are certain criteria we use to evaluate the opportunity. So far, Europe looks very attractive. We are doing the due diligence to see if we can achieve the same level of successes we have in US,” he said.

Banzon said the company started talking to key retailers in Europe and saw some level of interest.

CNPF’s unMeat brand is available in stores of Walmart, Albertsons, Harris Teeter, HEB and Meijer in the US; Carrefour in the United Arab Emirates; and FairPrice in Singapore.

CNPF president and chief executive Teodoro Alexander Po said the group’s outlook for plant-based foods remained positive.

“The category has been overhyped in the recent years, but it feels that the hype has already died down. The industry will now see more reasonable growth trajectory and growth expectations,” Po said.

“Long-term trends remain positive. We believe plant-based food will continue to be an important part of people’s diet in the mid to long term period,” he said.

CNPF forayed into the plant-based business in 2020, when unMEAT had its institutional launch through affiliate company Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. The company’s unMEAT brand entered the domestic retail market in 2021 and began international rollout in select markets.

CNPF is a holding firm with interests in buying and selling, processing, canning, packaging and manufacturing of food products.