Listed food and beverage company RFM Corporation is banking on a joint venture with Unilever Philippines that created the Unilever-RFM Corp, the local maker and seller of Selecta, Magnum, Cornetto ice cream brands, to drive sales.
In 1999, the joint venture Unilever RFM Ice Cream (URIC) Inc. was born when RFM Corporation’s Selecta Ice Cream business and Unilever joined forces to level up the ice cream experience of Philippine consumers with new brands like Magnum and Cornetto.
“The joint venture is open-ended, and this will continue. We in the RFM support Unilever, and there’s a long way to go in terms of growth in the Philippines. URIC is considered one of the best-performing operations of Unilever worldwide out of the 72 countries. We are one of the best,” Oliver Matias, the vice president for Finance at RFM, said in an interview.
“The sales have grown substantially since the start in 1999 and delivered a lot of income to both companies,” he stressed, the revenue that was equally enjoyed by both Unilever and RFM as the joint venture has a 50-50 sharing.
‘URIC is considered one of the best-performing operations of Unilever worldwide out of the 72 countries. We are one of the best.’
Matias revealed that one-third of RFM’s 2023 total sales of P21 billion were from the joint venture’s sales.
Commitment reaffirmed
Meanwhile, RFM Corporation CEO Jose Ma. A. Concepcion III recently hosted the top management meeting of the Unilever-RFM Corporation joint venture, reaffirming its commitment to the Philippine ice cream market.
Unilever is a global ice cream giant with over P480 billion in global ice cream sales under the brands Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Wall’s, and Cornetto, among others.
Concepcion said that RFM is eyeing stronger performance from the partnership with the global ice cream segment of Unilever under President Peter ter Kulve.
Both industry titans acknowledged the immense growth potential of the Philippines as a consumer and ice cream market.
The Selecta Ice Cream brand itself has a long history, which started with the Arce family in the late 1940’s which was eventually bought by RFM Corporation under Joey Concepcion in 1990.
Under RFM, the Selecta ice cream brand further flourished into a strong national ice cream brand that featured endorsers like Sharon Cuneta, Aga Mulach, Vhong Navarro, Piolo Pascual, Luis Manzano, Sarah Geronimo, and many other stars over the years.
Today, the Unilever RFM Ice Cream partnership is a leading player in the industry, consistently ranking among Unilever’s top-performing ice cream businesses globally and placing the Philippines within its top ten markets.
Joey Concepcion noted the significance of the ice cream joint venture with Unilever to RFM’s growth story.
The CEO said that RFM shareholders can expect continued growth through innovations from Unilever’s global ice cream R&D, new brands, and updated consumer insights alongside the local entrepreneurship spirit from RFM management.