Monde Nissin (MONDE) has drastically cut down the operating budget of Quorn Foods in 2023 as the alternative meat baby of bilyonaryo Betty Ang continues to pile up losses.
MONDE reported that it has realigned Quorn’s P2.14 billion operating expenditures budget for 2023 to the capital expenditures program of its Asia Pacific branded food and beverage business (APAC-BFB), specifically its money spinners MY San Biscuits, Dutch Mill, and Lucky Me.
Monde has also allocated the P1.1 million capex of Quorn (from its initial P48.6 billion public offering in 2021) to the APAC-BFB.
With the budget realignment, MONDE would discontinue its plan to use P5 billion of its retained earnings for the firm’s 2023 capex or just three months after the board approved the plan in December 2022.
MONDE’s fake meat business, which accounts for 20 percent of its total sales, lost P194 million in the first nine months of 2022, a 121 percent reversal from its profit of P929 million in the same period.
Quorn’s poor demand in the face of rising competition and inflation in its core United Kingdom market has made it difficult for Monde to boost sales since acquiring the business for P39 billion in 2015.
During its IPO, Monde’s CEO, Henry Soesanto, predicted explosive growth for Quorn, stating that “Ten years from now, based on several studies, this meat alternative protein business will be at least 10 percent of the total alternative sector. That’s 1,000% in the next 10 years.”
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