Nestle Waters seeks turnaround with Philippines sale
group Universal Robina Corp (URC) would better serve its interests
in the country.
The announcement comes as food and beverage companies face growing pressure to adapt to local markets. One strategy has been to team up with a local partner. Under the deal, Nestle will relinquish its claim on the Hidden Spring brand, as well as its manufacturing assets with effect from 1 April this year. URC will also acquire the license to bottle and distribute Nestle's Pure Brand range as a condition of the sale. A spokesperson for Nestlé Waters told AP-Foodtechnology.com that the company had taken decision as a means of improving the profitability of its brands in the country, which has proven to be a difficult market for the group. "The ultimate goal of this agreement is to improve strongly Nestlé Pure Life sales and gain market share thanks to the well established and competitive distribution network, thanks to the expertise of our new partners," they said. The company announced as a result that URC was the most suitable buyer of its products due to its success of their beverage brands in the country, like its C2 brand of tea based drinks. Nestlé expects URC's knowledge of the market will allow it to turn around the performance of its brand. The sale comes hot on the heels of the company's announcement in January of a strategic alliance with Mexican beverage group Modelo. Earlier this month, the Nestle Waters announced its global sales in 2006 grew by 9.4 per cent to €6.1 billion. This has allowed the Nestle waters to claim a dominant 19.1 per cent share of the global bottled water market.
