• last week
Monde Nissin—the largest Philippine maker of instant noodles by revenue controlled by Indonesia’s billionaire Kweefanus family—is scaling down Quorn’s operations to cut losses at its U.K.-based alternative meats unit.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iansayson/2024/11/25/philippines-top-noodle-maker-downsizes-loss-making-alternative-meats-business/

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Transcript
00:00Today on Forbes, Philippines' top noodle maker downsizes loss-making alternative-meats business.
00:08Mande Nissen, the largest Philippine maker of instant noodles by revenue
00:13and controlled by Indonesia's billionaire Kwifanis family,
00:16is scaling down Quorn's operations to cut losses at its UK-based alternative-meats unit.
00:23According to Jesse Teo, chief financial officer of Mande Nissen,
00:28Quorn's capacity exceeds what's needed to serve the UK and the US,
00:32where the company's expansion didn't go as planned, amid softer demand.
00:37He said that the downsizing could help Quorn return to black.
00:41Teo told Forbes Asia,
00:43The growth wasn't there, so we have to dial down.
00:46This restructuring is meant to make the business healthier.
00:48We overinvested in the business, not only in capacity.
00:53The group bought Quorn in 2015 for $831 million
00:57and spent almost $340 million to expand the business,
01:01bringing total investments to about $1.2 billion.
01:06Teo said that Mande Nissen will retrench hundreds of Quorn's workforce
01:10as it shuts plants and streamlines its supply chain.
01:14The £15 million or $19 million overhaul includes the appointment of a new CEO at Quorn,
01:21which in 2021 had 900 employees and exports to 15 countries,
01:25including the US, Singapore, and Australia.
01:29John Gautmaitan, chairman at Luna Securities in Manila, says,
01:35Mande, like many other meat alternative players, misjudged the market.
01:39The novelty of fake meat is gone, it's not gaining traction,
01:43and Mande is taking corrective action.
01:46Mande Nissen CEO Henry Soesanto, who helped transform the company from a biscuit maker
01:52into the Philippines' largest manufacturer of instant noodles under the Lucky Me brand,
01:57spearheaded the company's push into alternative meats
02:00amid hopes global trends toward sustainable and healthy eating would boost demand.
02:06Soesanto, a key shareholder of Mande Nissen,
02:09along with the company's chairman emeritus Artono Kouifanis, his brother-in-law,
02:14expanded Quorn by opening a £150 million manufacturing plant in the UK in 2018
02:21that doubled its capacity to 40,000 tonnes a year.
02:25Quorn then described the facility as the world's biggest meat alternative production plant.
02:31In 2021, Soesanto allotted $335 million from Mande's $1.1 billion IPO proceeds
02:39to grow Quorn's presence in the US, then the biggest alternative meats market,
02:43while ramping up capacity in the UK.
02:46But with rising sales and cost pressures at home and abroad, including the US,
02:51Teo said Mande halted construction of a fifth fermentation plant in the UK,
02:56even though the project is more than 50% completed.
02:59While Quorn's position now has improved to a third of UK's alternative meats market,
03:04Teo said it's using capacity equivalent only to two and a half of its four fermentation plants.
03:10Teo said, quote,
03:22As part of its far-reaching revamp, Quorn ended a marketing partnership
03:26with Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore that started in 2021
03:31and retrenched several executives who were hired to advance its US expansion, according to Teo.
03:37The restructuring, which includes reducing inventory and cutting delivery time,
03:42will generate £8 million in total savings in 2024 and in 2025,
03:47when Quorn is expected to be EBITDA positive.
03:50This according to Soesanto earlier this month,
03:52when Mande reported nine-month earnings that showed its alternative meats business
03:56reporting a core net loss of $11.1 million.
04:01Soesanto, Quifanis, and their family,
04:04which includes Mande Nissen president and co-founder Betty Ang,
04:07have a combined net worth of $2.2 billion,
04:11largely on the value of their controlling interest in the Manila-based conglomerate.
04:16This according to Forbes Asia's list of the Philippines' 50 richest that was published in August.
04:21Ang, who is married to a brother of Quifanis,
04:24co-founded Mande Nissen in 1979 with her late father-in-law, Ididjat Darmono.
04:30Soesanto is married to Darmono's daughter, Monica, the company's treasurer.
04:36For full coverage, check out Ian Saison's piece on Forbes.com.
04:42This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:44Thanks for tuning in.

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