Japan's Calbee Pulls out of Philippine Potato Chip Venture

Japanese snack maker Calbee announced it would pull out of its potato chip venture in the Philippines with food and beverage group Universal Robina, as the business financial success was below expectations.

Calbee said it was selling its 50% stake in the joint venture to its Filipino partner for around PHP170m (USD3.13m).

The chips, which arrived in Manila stores in 2015, were 40% more expensive than potato chips already offered by Universal Robina. The venture has registered lackluster sales growth and a total net loss of around PHP280m between 2015 and 2017.

A Calbee official told asia.nikkei.com the products were too expensive for Filipinos, a group that market research group Nielsen once described as "spontaneous snackers" who like to share food with relatives and friends.

Calbee's pullout is a blow to Universal Robina's strategy of boosting its premium product portfolio to serve the growing number of consumers with more sophisticated tastes. Universal Robina, one of the largest food and beverage purveyors in Southeast Asia, has partnered with French group Danone in beverages and acquired Griffin's Foods of New Zealand to add premium biscuits to its higher-end portfolio.

However, in a sign of its determination to push ahead with the strategy, Universal Robina plans to continue producing and selling the products under a licensing agreement with Calbee.