Lamoiyan Corp. to export Hapee products to China

MANILA - Filipino-owned Lamoiyan Corp., the manufacturer of the Hapee toothpaste brand, will be exporting its products to China, the company’s top official said.

Cecilio Kwok Pedro, the company’s president and chief executive, said they have decided to be more aggressive and enter the Chinese market.

Lamoiyan has been exporting its products to Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Pa-pua New Guinea and the Middle East.

“In every crisis, there is an opportunity,” Pedro said.

The company will compete with multinational companies in China using its cost-competitive advantage in the consumer market – the same formula it used to break into the foreign-dominated toothpaste segment in the Philippines.

Pedro said Lamoiyan is putting emphasis on participating in trade fairs as a strategy to expand its market. In 2008, the company participated in a trade fair in Dubai and bagged a distributorship deal.

This year, the company joins for the first time the China-ASEAN Expo 2009, the country’s trade platform for exporters hoping to explore the Chinese market.

Led by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, CAEXPO 2009 is a yearly celebration of more than a thousand years of trade and cultural exchanges between China and Southeast Asian nations.

CAEXPO began as an annual event in 2003. Over the past five years, it generated a total of 119,000 trade visitors, $6.52 billion in trade volume, and international investments cooperation projects worth $28.62 billion.

Together with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the Philippines will promote its trade, tourism and investment opportunities to over 10,000 trade buyers from China and all over South East Asia attending CAEXPO.

Last year, the Philippines generated close to $1 million in sales.

The best-selling Philippine products were bottled sardines, bangus pate, virgin coconut oil, snack foods and fresh fruits. Other Filipino exhibitors joining Lamoiyan are Agrinurture Inc. (canned fruit juices, coco products); Art Workx Jewelry Inc. (jewelry designing); Beadaholic Inc. (fashion accessories); Beso Import Export Trading (ready-to-drink); Camelia (candies, chocolates); Cechosa Trading Enterprises (tin crafts); Egonco Enterprises (Philippine Banana snack); Jacildo’s Handicrafts (home décor); Knick Knacks Trading Corp. (arts, crafts and gifts); Manila Business College (Education); Mega Fishing Corp. (sardines); Nor-Ref Food Products (brewed coffee); Phymax International Corp. (Stationery and Desk Accessories); Team Asia Corp, (Refined Coconut oil); and Unique Novelties and Toys (toys).