By Mary Grace Padin
CALATA Corp., one of the biggest agricultural conglomerates in the country, said on Monday it is set to venture into a new business of supplying hogs to leading roast pork or lechon makers in the country.
In a disclosure, Calata Corp. said it has established business partnerships with leading industry players, such as Lydia’s Lechon, to fill the lechon chain’s requirements for pigs.
“Nagsimula na kami nitong November mag-deliver ng baboy sa mga lechonan, pero in a month’s time we will be able to firm up definitive agreements with lechon chains like Lydia’s Lechon. These cover long-term supply agreements, exclusivity, etc. Pero ngayon, nag-place na sila ng purchase order sa amin. Open na kaming mag-supply ng baboy sa mga magle-lechon,” Calata Corporate Communications Officer Jose Marie Fabella said. Fabella said this new business segment, in its first year, is expected to contribute 15 percent to the company’s consolidated revenues, with anticipated increases in the following years. “It is expected that this new business shall comprise a significant portion of the company’s consolidated revenue, which from very conservative projections, reveal an additional 15-percent annual growth with a steady increase brought about by aggressive expansion, which shall include possible acquisition of related businesses,” the disclosure read.
Fabella said Calata aims to supply hogs to lechon chains nationwide, but will set up its new business in Luzon for the time being.
Calata has a hog-breeding facility in Santa Maria, Isabela, which can provide the requirements for lechon makers in Luzon, Fabella said.
“For now, we can supply 300,000 hogs annually. We can also supply to other lechon chains aside from Lydia’s Lechon,” he said.
The company said it can also outsource the supply of pigs from other breeding stations and establish more growing farms should the Isabela facility be unable to meet the demands for pigs from the partner lechon makers.
On Sunday Calata Corp. entered the Philippines in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest serving of roast pork in the world.
The Philippines successfully surpassed Mexico’s previous record of 3,094 kilograms of roasted pork after the company served a total of 4,046 kilos of lechon as affirmed by Guinness Book of World Records Adjudicator Lucia Sinigagliesi.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes