“Our sales will probably pick up [in 2012] because the election is nearing,” Mekeni Food President Prudencio S. Garcia said in a telephone interview on Saturday. Mr. Garcia explained that processed meat sales historically increase during the last quarter of the year before the election. The country’s mid-term election is set in May 2013. The government’s pledge to spend more this year, he added, will be “a big factor” for the projected growth.
According to earlier reports, the budget department has committed to spend P140 billion on infrastructure projects beginning this month. “If the government will push through with its announcement to spend more, it will be good for us,” said Mr. Garcia. “When the government spends, money will go down to the people. In turn, that would propel spending on the part of the consumers.”
Citing these reasons, Mr. Garcia believes that Mekeni’s profit in 2012 will grow by 6-9%. In 2011, the company recorded at least P1 billion in sales. Mekeni Food is also looking to expand its export network this year.
“We are interested in China but there are trade issues that have to be settled. However, I think the government is already working on that. We will see,” he said. Last October, Mekeni Foods started exporting to the United Arab Emirates, shipping 14,000 kilos of meat products to Dubai for its first order.
Meanwhile, Mr. Garcia said the company would focus on improving products other than its hotdogs, a bestseller that already enjoys strong sales. The Pampanga-based meat processor makes hotdogs, sausages, hams, bacon, tocino, longganisa and tapa.
The company, established in 1986, halted operations temporarily because of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. In 2001, Mekeni Foods obtained a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines, which allowed them to put up a state-of-the-art facility. -- CHCV