D&L to expand Batangas facilities to boost exports

FILE: Alvin Lao (Photo: Alvin Lao/Linkedin)

MANILA — D&L Group, listed manufacturer of specialty foods ingredients, plans to build manufacturing facilities in Tanauan, Batangas, as it embarks on an expansion drive to boost capacity and grow its export business.

D&L Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer Alvin Lao said the company aims to penetrate new Asia-Pacific markets in line with its long-term goal to grow the share of its export business to 50 percent of total revenue over the next eight years.

“Moving to the new site or expanding the new site will help our export. It’s really something that we will be able to achieve not just with our existing business but also with our expansion,” he told reporters.

Its export business currently contributes 25 percent to total revenues.

“There could be possibly new contracts, new businesses that would be entered into immediately.  We cannot service (them) because we don’t have enough capacity.  (The expansion is) part of long term planning,” Lao said.

D&L Group’s D&L Premium Foods Corp. and NaturaAeropack Corporation have submitted applications to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for the registration of planned new manufacturing facilities in a PEZA zone in Batangas.

The facilities, which will be located on a 26-hectare property in First Industrial Township-Special Economic Zone, is expected to generate about 700 new jobs with construction and commissioning to be completed in 2021.

“The planned expansion will position D&L Group to grow over the next 20 years. The group’s current utilization rate stands at 70 percent, allowing the group time to complete the expansion,” the company told the local bourse.

The last major capacity build took place prior to the initial public offering (lPO) of D&L in 2012.

“We have food ingredients and a lot of those food ingredients will be geared for exports. We have a lot of products for various consumer applications, still B2B (business-to-business) but targeting to be sold for consumer companies to use things like personal care, home care, baby care,” Lao added.

D&L Premium Foods Corp. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oleo-fats, Inc. (OFI), incorporated to cater primarily to OFI’s growing export business.

Meanwhile, NaturaAeropack Corporation is 70 percent owned by Chemrez Technologies, Inc. (CTI) and 30 percent owned by Aero-Pack Industries, Inc. (API).

OFI, CTI, and API are subsidiaries of D&L Industries.