NUTRITION. Unilever Philippines country head Fredy Ong speaks at an event launch at Unilever's office in Taguig City on Thursday (July 18, 2024). He said the firm is targeting to reach 15 million Filipinos for its nutrition education campaigns. (PNA photo by Kris Crismundo)
MANILA – Even multinational fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Unilever is seen to benefit from the easing inflation in the country as this would boost consumer spending on such goods.
Unilever Philippines Nutrition Business lead Marinelle Villanueva told reporters Thursday that the sales performance of the company’s food unit is expected to improve in the second half of the year as inflation rate eases, giving consumers more room to spend.
Villanueva said Unilever’s Nutrition business began 2024 slow due to the elevated inflation rate in the first quarter of the year.
“We have seen people going back to adding more and different formats to the basket. (In) Quarter 1, we saw them making adjustments, they may choose a more affordable format. But we’ve seen pick up in Quarter 2,” she said.
She added that the frequency of preparation of dishes also increases in the second half due to the holidays towards the end of the year.
Villanueva said Unilever Philippines Nutrition’s business unit would bring new products into the country in the next two to three years.
She added that these new formats would be manufactured in the company’s Cavite plant.
The Knorr brand leads the complex seasoning market in the Philippines, accounting for more than half of the market share, Villanueva said.
Meanwhile, Unilever Philippines Nutrition launched on Thursday its goal of reaching 15 million Filipinos by 2030 through its nutrition education campaign, such as the Knorr "Nutri-Sarap" program and "Makulay ang Buhay" program.
For the past 22 years, Unilever’s Knorr brand has been advocating for nutritious, delicious, and affordable food to address malnutrition in the country. (PNA)
