LISTED food and beverage manufacturer RFM Corp. will not implement price increases for its items sold across supermarkets during the holiday season, its top official said.
“We’re prepared for Christmas. We don’t want to increase prices, especially ice cream and pasta, which are the big items during Christmas. We’ve hedged our prices so we are protected. Hopefully, we want to see more consumers spend this coming Christmas,” RFM President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Ma. A. Concepcion III said during ANC’s Market Edge on Tuesday.
“We started loading the supermarkets. We want the momentum to really continue and wipe out our entire inventory this coming quarter. I’m very positive moving towards even next year,” he added.
Mr. Concepcion said that RFM is optimistic about the upcoming holiday season on the back of increased consumer spending as well as lower prices of raw materials.
“We have already adjusted our prices. During Christmas, we already started pre-selling and loading the distributors. One thing for sure is they are not going to see any price increases. It is a very competitive environment right now, even with ice cream. We have a lot of competitors wanting to grab our market share,” Mr. Concepcion said.
“We want consumers to spend. If the products are more affordable, then they can afford to buy more. I think everybody is bullish that this Christmas will be pretty good. I expect that because Filipinos will always eat,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Concepcion said the company’s margins are “well protected” as it has secured the supply of raw materials until June next year.
“From the high of what commodity prices were early this year and to where it is now, the margins are well protected. That’s why we have hedged as far as next year June, we’ve secured our raw materials at prevailing prices. We have been able to hedge so that in case there are any further upticks towards next year,” Mr. Concepcion said.
“We should be fine,” he added.
RFM logged a 19% decline in its first-half net income to P558 million despite the 8% increase in its net revenue to P9.2 billion. The company’s products include ice cream, flour-based goods, milk, and juices.
On Tuesday, shares of RFM at the local bourse closed unchanged at P3.05 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave