At first glance, Tetra Pak’s products may evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of childhood favorites like chocolate drinks, pineapple juice, and coconut water. John Jose, Tetra Pak’s marketing director for Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia, confirms that these familiar packages are widely used by major brands in the Philippines, including Del Monte, Nestle, Selecta, and Magnolia.
Despite Tetra Pak’s strong presence in the Philippines, Jose notes that the company has yet to capture as many customers as in neighboring countries. With a population of over 110 million, the Philippines presents a significant opportunity for Tetra Pak, which currently sees a larger share of its business in Vietnam, where milk consumption is more than double that of the Philippines.
One of the challenges for Tetra Pak in the Philippines is the preference for powdered milk over ready-to-drink options. Jose explains that while Vietnamese consumers favor liquid milk, Filipinos opt for powdered milk due to its ease of transport and lighter weight. “We cannot do powder in our solution,” he admits, indicating a need for Tetra Pak to explore new categories.
With a P14.4-billion carton packaging factory in Binh Duong, Vietnam, Tetra Pak is poised to enter the emerging coffee and tea market in the Philippines. Jose emphasizes the importance of expanding beyond dairy, stating, “Dairy is becoming a very competitive market. There are a lot of players in dairy, so we need to start expanding into the other categories.”
The newly opened second phase of the Binh Duong factory has significantly increased Tetra Pak’s production capacity, allowing the company to better serve the Asia Pacific region, including the Philippines. The challenge now lies in competing with plastic bottles in the coffee and tea packaging sector.
To facilitate this transition, Tetra Pak has been hosting open house sessions for brand owners in the Philippines, aiming to showcase the benefits of carton packaging, such as sustainability and recyclability. These sessions also provide valuable consumer insights that will inform Tetra Pak’s strategies moving forward.
Jose acknowledges that convincing beverage players to switch to carton packaging will take time, but he remains optimistic. “Through our business development team in the Philippines, we continue to try to talk to beverage players to see if there’s any interest in the ideas that we have,” he says.
Tetra Pak hopes to begin packaging coffee and tea by 2026, marking a new chapter for the 74-year-old company. “We have done a lot of work in terms of understanding the category … we translate these insights into actual opportunity platforms that customers can look at,” Jose concludes.