Splash to build processing plant for European market

MANILA, Philippines

Splash Holdings Inc. (SHI) is extensively studying the feasibility of putting up a coconut manufacturing plant.

As a leading Philippine consumer goods manufacturer, the company plans to utilize indigenous resources in making innovative health and personal care products for promising European and American markets.

"Splash already has a product line that would require putting up a multi-product manufacturing plant to process a variety of coconut products — coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, dessicated coconut, 100 percent biodiesel, coconut milk, coconut juice, even perhaps coconut fiber and coconut coir (from the coconut tree itself)," said Dr. Rolando B. Hortaleza, Chairman and CEO of SHI.

Total cost for the plant is estimated to be around P300 (US$5.7) million.

Splash expects to earn P800 million this year from its coconut-based exports, or about 20 percent of total sales (P4 billion).

"The market is really in Europe and North America. The local sales is just a launching pad. For the European market, the association of coconut with the Philippines holds a lot of credibility. When you hear of coconut from the Philippines, the impact is different compared to coconut from Indonesia," Hortaleza added.

Virgin coconut oil is being positioned as a health product with its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal effects with its lauric acid content.

"It's for health and wealth. Europeans are so interested in it, they're (even) defending our product," he said.

By harnessing indigenous materials for products such as "Likas" (papaya-based whitening soap) and "Biolink"(green papaya-based skin whitener).

Splash boasts of a strong unique positioning to become the Philippines' sixth biggest personal health care manufacturer behind multinational companies such as Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, and Johnson & Johnson.

From a minuscule P100,000 sales in 1985, Splash sales grew to P4 billion by 2004. It has also begun to gain foreign market share with an export sales as of P400 million. Soon, Splash plans to globally launch its "Theraherb" brand virgin coconut oil as well as other cooconut-based products.

While tempted to locate in China and Vietnam for manufacturing, Splash's serious thrust is to empower the local labor and make excellent Filipino products.

"We believe in the local talent. Labor cost in China and Vietnam is very cheap, but the Filipinos can be more productive than anyone. We can be globally competitive without leaving the country," Hortaleza stated.

Driven by faith, Splash has been growing by 60 percent annually and yet explores other expansion prospects.

"The peril is not in the environment. The trouble is not in the competitor. The real threat resides in us. We can't allow success to get into our heads," Hortaleza added.

Entrepreneurship, he said, is the key to helping improve the economy.

"Taking the path of entrepreneurship is its own reward. We shall help uplift the pride and the economic well-being of Filipinos. Entrepreneurs are not exactly larger than life. They are just the ones who patiently master their craft and who have the tenacity to do the best. It's a whole lot of perspective. If everything will easily go right, it probably wouldn't be worth doing," he said.

1/26/06

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