CARMEN’S BEST, known for its ice cream, will be stocking supermarket shelves with a new line of fresh milk, thus expanding its dairy portfolio and signaling full-fledged dairy operations for its parent, Metro Pacific Agro Ventures (MPAV).
The new line of Carmen’s Best Fresh Milk includes variants Whole Milk, Low Fat Milk, Chocolate Milk, Salted Caramel Milk, and Barista Fresh Milk. Guests tried the milk variants during an event on Jan. 22 at The Fifth at Rockwell.
The brand also boasts of a new dairy facility in Bukidnon in Mindanao, enabling them to serve the Visayas and Mindanao markets. During a group interview, Jovy Hernandez, MPAV and Carmen’s Best president and chief executive officer said that the Laguna plant was able to service all the major island groups when it only made ice cream, a frozen product, but with the thrust towards fresh milk, with a limited shelf life of seven days, “it’s a different story.” Currently, they’re working on solutions with their Israeli partners to prolong the shelf life of their products. “We just have to make sure that what we produce in terms of protocols in Laguna is the same in Bukidnon,” he said. “The expansion opportunities in Bukidnon (are) immense,” he added. The property consists of more than 400 hectares of land. “If the demand is there, and we need to double the herd, we can always do it in Bukidnon.” The facility, acquired from a previous dairy producer, came with 1000 cows, adding to their initial herd numbering about 300. This has increased their production to 1.5 million liters of milk annually (from a video presentation at the event) from an initial 250,000, with the target set this year at two million. Carmen’s Best, founded in 2009 by Paco Magsaysay, was acquired by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), in turn MPAV’s parent, in 2022.
Asked about the difference between their fresh milk and other milks already in the market, Toby Gatchalian, MPAV and Carmen’s Best Chief Commercial Officer said, “It’s 100% fresh, and it’s 100% local,” he said. “You will see, really, the difference between fresh milk and something that, as Jovy says, you burn (undergoing ultra heat treatment, UHT), and it stays in the shelf for a very long time.”
Mr. Hernandez added, “We’re not here to compete with them. We’re just saying that 99% of the dairy demand of this country are all imported. We’re only 1%. That’s not correct in my view. If we can increase the local production, ergo, help the local farmers as well… every time you buy a Carmen’s Best milk product, you think to yourself, ‘This is 100% local, I’m helping the local Filipino farmers, and I’m helping the local dairy industry,’” he said.
“Our forecast by 2026, we will be self-sufficient in terms of milk supply for the demand that we are seeing. That’s roughly 25% of the local dairy production,” he added.
As for other dairy products, the company has a target to have a full line of milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and butter by 2027. “We have formu-lations already for yogurt, which we will launch when the time comes. We have cheeses, butter, cream, and many, many more.” Addressing the trend of plant-based milks, Mr. Hernandez said, “These are in the pipeline. Plant-based milk products are a thing now, it’s a growing industry. We feel that we should be part of it.”
The presence of more cows also raises the question: Will they enter the beef market soon? “We already have the value chain, the barn, the technology on how to care for the cows. Maybe the next logical step would be getting into beef production. Maybe. We’re thinking about it. I can’t confirm to you today that we are. But it makes sense,” he said.
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of First Pacific, the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
Carmen’s Best Milk is soon to be available online at www.carmensbest.com and in stores nationwide. — Joseph L. Garcia
