CEBU CITY — Polyfoam Chemical Corp., maker of the Uratex Foam brand, is expanding its presence in the Visayas and Mindanao with the opening of three factories and two showrooms this year.
Stephen Brian C. Lee, company sales director, told BusinessWorld that the company is focusing on the central and southern parts of the country because “these areas are the growing markets.”
“We believe in the Visayas and Mindanao markets as our biggest growth areas, so we need to explore them by seeing to it that our outlets are near (the) possible buyers,” said Mr. Lee at the launching in Cebu of actor-athlete Matteo F. Guidicelli as brand endorser.
Mr. Lee also said that while Uratex, a part of the RGC Group of Companies, continues to look for more sites, they are also working on the “challenge in logistics” in these areas.
The Visayas and Mindanao, he added, currently account for about 40% of the company’s total market.
The factories that will be opened this year are in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental in the Visayas and the cities of General Santos and Butuan in Mindanao.
New showrooms will also be launched in Bacolod and Tacloban, both in the Visayas.
The Luzon market “has been saturated,” Mr. Lee added.
Marketing Director Cherry Wong-Tan, for her part, said, “We want to continue expanding to fulfill the goal of our founder,” referring to the late Robert G. Cheng who, together with wife Natividad, started the business about 50 years ago.
Tom R. Cruz, general manager for Mindanao operations, said the company has continued to innovate to provide the market with both durable and trendy products.
“We are among the few companies in the country that have put premium attention to research and development because this is among our strengths,” Mr. Cruz said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco
