If you go to
a restaurant in the United States there is a good chance that you would be
eating a Ventura foods product.
Ventura Foods is a leading
manufacturer of custom and branded oil, shortening, margarine, mayonnaise,
sauce and dressing in the United States. The company currently supplies many Quick
Service and Fast Casual Restaurants in the United States and many other
countries around the world. Ventura has since expanded to the Philippines to
cater to the ever growing needs of the industry here and the rest of the Asia-Pacific
Region. This is welcome news to the food service and restaurant industry, which
is experiencing robust growth, and demands high quality products to offer a
public with increasingly discriminating tastes. Ventura held a successful
exhibit at the recently concluded WOFEX (World Food Expo) in August 2016 at the
World Trade Center Manila where clients were able to sample the kind of
products the company can offer.
What makes Ventura Foods different
from other companies in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) category is that
customization is their specialization. “Two-thirds of our business is food
service. We are first and foremost a food service organization. We do have a
retail business and an industrial business as well, but food service is our
primary focus,” says Yann Kervoern, President of Ventura International. “We
don't make one product that we sell to everybody. We try to understand
everybody's different needs and tailor to their requirements.”
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YannKervoern
President, International Ventura Foods |
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Ribbon
Cutting ceremony during the opening of WOFEX 2016 last August 3, 2016. (L-R) Anton de los Santos - Sales and Marketing Director – Export Division; Vincent Lao – Managing
Director, Oleo Fats ; Yann Kervoern - President, International Ventura Foods;
Glenn Lobo - Director of
International Operations – Asia Pacific, Ventura Foods; Baven Chin – Sales Director – APAC; and Francis Tan – Director for Sales and Marketing, Local Division.
Asia-Pacific was a natural
choice in deciding where to expand the company. "One reason why we're here
is that our key clients have approached Ventura USA because we are the primary
supplier of sauces and dressings for these major companies,” says Glenn Lobo,
Director of International Operations for the Asia-Pacific region.“They reached
out to us and said, ‘Hey, can you help us make sure our sauces are standardized
across the globe?’” It has been the practice of QSR chains that expand globally
to use local suppliers in many markets. They had to make do with what’s
available because importing those same sauces from the US would be too costly,
which would result in a less price competitive end product.
To be competitive in terms of
pricing and quality, the company established a strong local partnership with
Oleo-Fats Inc., which consists of the production and marketing of products not
just for the Philippine market but also for export throughout the Asia Pacific region,
and even the Middle East. “In the region we know we will be tariff and duty
friendly and cost competitive, but the same time to be able to make our
customer and their customers happy that what they're eating is something
similar to what they'll be eating at when they're in the US or anywhere else,”
explains Lobo.
The high quality of their
products is something the company banks on making them stand out. “The
formulation of sauces, dressing and mayonnaise are based on the ones made in
the United States,” informs Kervoern. For instance, Ventura makes their real
mayonnaise with real eggs vs powdered eggs. This is an important detail because
it is a signifier of the conditions of the manufacturing site. “If you only use
powder, it could mean you are not able to handle fresh products and not handle
them safely in your facility because it’s harder,” says Lobo.“Being able to
process fresh ingredients means you have a quality environment. It’s more
difficult operationally requiring more stringent conditions.” Already, this strict
adherence to standards is getting an enthusiastic response from clients and
potential customers. “Compared to other imported products from other countries,
our quality is a lot better,” says Anton de los Santos, Sales and Marketing
Director of Oleo-Fats. “We've already
received feedback from major QSR chains sourcing their products from
Asia-Pacific producers and they're saying Ventura’s quality is very good. They
are the gold standard.”
Apart from bringing their
obvious expertise to the Asia-Pacific market, Ventura recognizes that the
region and the countries in it have their own unique flavor profile that may
not always match those in the United States. “We have the ability to adjust
tastes to consumer preferences for every country in the region,” says
Kervoern. The Ventura produced real
mayonnaise for the Philippine market, for instance, is sweeter than mayonnaise
they produce elsewhere because this is in line with consumer preference. They plan to take the same approach to the
rest of their market. “Taste is important, but in our market of sauces, dressings,
mayonnaise and margarine, texture and mouthfeel are other components that are
equally just as important,”Kervoern explains.The experience in the US means the
company’s area of expertise in products that specialize in both taste and
mouthfeel is vast.
This combination makes them a
formidable presence in the industry. “We have the know-how, technical
capability, quality systems, the production capabilities to delight our
customers, and we try to remain fleet-footed and agile in terms of being able
to respond to market trends and customer demands,” says de los Santos. Ventura’s
presence in the region is growing, and with local production capabilities, they
can only expect continued momentum that’s set to match the booming growth in
various related and complementary industries such as tourism and casual dining.
Ventura Foods and Oleo-Fats, Inc. office address is at #5 Mercury Avenue, Bagumbayan, Quezon City 1110 Philippines or visit the official website at www.venturafoods.com. You may contact them directly at (02) 709 6536 or (02) 635 0680.
About Ventura Foods:
Ventura
Foods is the leading manufacturer of custom and branded dressings, sauces,
mayonnaise, oils, shortenings, margarines, bases and pan coatings for the
foodservice, retail and ingredient manufacturing industries in over 60
countries. They offer customers a
full-range of meal solutions including retail brands that benefit greatly from
their culinary expertise and strength in foodservice. The privately owned
company was formed in 1996 as a joint venture between Mitsui & Co. of Japan
and CHS, a global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives
across the United States with diversified interests energy, grain and food.
Oleo-Fats, Inc. is a wholly
owned subsidiary of publicly listed D&L Industries, Inc., a dynamic
industrial group founded in 1963. Over the years, the group has evolved from a
trader of chemicals into a diversified manufacturer and supplier of innovative
products, growing successfully to become a market leader in the industries it
serves.
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