MPIC expands biz in strategic partnership with Carmen’s Best Group

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY –The Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), a leading infrastructure investments company in the country continues to expand its business portfolio as it entered into a strategic partnership with Carmen’s Best Dairy Products, Inc., Carmen’s Best International Dairy Company, Inc., Real Fresh Dairy Farms, Inc., and The Laguna Creamery, Inc. collectively, the “Carmen’s Best Group” to further develop and expand the operations of its dairy farm and dairy products manufacturing facilities.

“The agricultural sector presents a wide range of possibilities that can help us achieve several goals –to strengthen the food supply chain and augment the accessibility of resources for all Filipinos as well as provide more opportunities for growth in an otherwise underserved business,” MPIC Chairman/President and Chief Executive Officer, Manuel Pangilinan said during the singing on June 27 at the MPIC Boardroom.

Under the partnership, the Carmen’s Best Group will integrate its assets and operations into The Laguna Creamery, Inc. (TLCI) with MPIC owning a 51 percent equity interest in TLCI and the Carmen’s Best Group retaining a 49 percent equity interest.

The transaction is valued at P288M for 100 percent and is conditional upon customary regulatory confirmation and approvals.

The Carmen’s Best Group is behind the home-grown premium ice cream brand, Carmen’s Best Ice Cream, and the country’s only locally pasteurized and homogenized fresh milk, Holly’s Milk. It produces artisanal cheeses under the Carmen’s Best Natural Cheese and Holly’s brands.

Earlier this year, MPIC announced that it is seeking to ramp up investments in the agricultural sector and reduce the country’s dependence on food imports amid ongoing global supply chain disruptions and high inflation. This transaction presents a significant growth opportunity for MPIC and the Philippines, as the country currently imports 99 percent of its annual dairy requirements. 

MPIC and Carmen’s Best Group envision transforming TLCI into a fully integrated dairy business, serving local demand and eventually competing globally. Carmen’s Best has always had family at the heart of its brand.

“From the humble beginnings of my father and his friend's dairy farming project, to the touch of creativity I added to turn it into a modest ice cream business. Welcoming MPIC into our family makes us appreciative that they see the value of what we already built, while also elevating it to a level beyond what we envisioned,” Carmen’s Best Group founder Francisco Delgado Magsaysay revealed. (Photos: MPIC/Carmen's Best FBs)