On September 20, San Miguel Brewery (SMB) will break ground for a new brewery in Barangay Gua-an, Leganes, Iloilo, Philippines. The brewery will have an initial capacity of one million hectoliters and will be completed in about two years. The greenfield project is part of San Miguel’s initiative to build up to 10 new breweries in the country (inside.beer, 18.7.2018).
Already one year earlier, the company announced to convert its existing bottling plant in Sta Rosa in Laguna into a full-fledged brewery and to build a new one and a half million hl brewery in Tagoloan close to Cagayan de Oro City on Philippines’ second largest and southernmost major island Mindanao (inside.beer, 18.1.2017). Both projects are well under way and are set to be completed soon.
“(The Iloilo facility) is a significant milestone for our company as we continue to pursue new growth opportunities. Over the long-term, this new facility will allow us to address growing demand and maximize efficiencies throughout the supply chain,” SMB President Roberto N. Huang said in a statement.
“This major development is an important part of San Miguel’s current expansion in key regions nationwide,” Ramon Ang, President and COO of SMB’s mother company San Miguel Corporation (SMC) added. “Our aim is to help our nation achieve its development goals by investing in emerging growth areas. With this investment, we hope to help accelerate the region’s overall growth and bring more jobs to our countrymen in the south,” Ang said.
SMB, operates five breweries strategically located across the Philippines in Valenzuela, Pampanga, Mandaue, Davao del Sur and Bacolod. It has a highly developed distribution system serving approximately 471,000 retail outlets and dominates the domestic beer market with a 95% market share. The company also runs breweries in Hong Kong, mainland China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and is currently putting up another 2 million hl brewery in Vietnam (inside.beer, 29.5.2019). In addition it is planning a new brewery in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, California to serve the 4 million Filipino Americans, which are estimated to live in the United States.
SMB is jointly owned by SMC (51%) and Kirin Holdings Company (48%). It is the 10th largest brewer in Asia by volume, with leading positions in the Philippines and Hong Kong as well as presence in strategic growth markets in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
SMC is Southeast Asia’s largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company with over 18,000 employees in over 100 major facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific. SMC is among the fastest growing conglomerates with key investments and new business ventures in fuel and oil, aviation, ene
