Fruitas Seeks Slice of P200 Billion Bread Market with New Panaderya Business
Listed Fruitas Holding Inc. is seeking to get into the bread business by opening its own community bakery or panaderya. The company will initially offer freshly baked pan de sal and other bread products in its community stores and plans to expand by opening a standalone bakery concept, which it will call Babot’s Panaderya.
The company, which is best known for its network of fruit shake and fruit juice stalls, plans to open four branches in Metro Manila and one branch in the provincial area in the coming months.
In March 2020, the company acquired food delivery service company CocoDelivery to expand its delivery channels, particularly during the start of the pandemic. Later in the year, the company said it also expanded its product suite and tapped distribution partners for some of its other products.
In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said it is leveraging leveraging off the baking expertise and capacity of Negril Trading Inc.,” the company that operates one of its in-house brands, De Original Jamaican Pattie. As a result, Fruitas is initially entering the bakery business with minimal capital expenditure.
In order to adapt to new ways of doing business caused by the pandemic, Babot’s Panaderya will plans to offer “flexible and enhanced consumer distribution,” curbside ordering and pickup, as well as home and office delivery through CocoDelivery. The bread products will soon be available to consumers through its community stores, CocoDelivery, and eventually through Babot’s Panaderya. The company also plans to explore the sale of its own bread products in some of its kiosks and to selected institutional customers.
Fruitas estimates the total bread market in the Philippines at P200 billion per annum and said bread sales increased by around 30 percent in the second quarter of 2020 during the height of the lockdown.
The decision to enter the bakery business itself was “to serve the demand of its customers for freshly baked bread.”
“Pan de sal is a staple in Filipinos’ daily diet,” said Lester Yu, Fruitas Holdings president and CEO. “Our entry into the bakery business is a natural step to achieve our vision of having every Filipino household consume at least one Fruitas product every day. At the same time, freshly baked bread is a perfect addition to our community stores.”
In addition to its flagship namesake brand andDe Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar, Fruitas also operates Black Pearl, Buko Loco, Buko ni Fruitas, House of Fruitas, Johnn Lemon, Juice Avenue, Sabroso Lechon, Tea Rex, and The Mango Farm.
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