Mega Global Corporation, the country’s leading and innovative leader in the fishing and canning industry, sees slower growth this year after its phenomenal growth last year.

Marin Tiu Lim, Mega Global chief growth and development officer, said at the launch of its Mega Bigay Sustansya (MBS) Program that provides nutrition to undernourished children in more communities as part of the company’s sustainability effort.

“Last year was phenomenal with all local government units ordering for their ‘ayudas’,” he said noting there were months last year where sales doubled. But this year, it would be difficult to replicate last year’s performance because the fast moving consumer goods sector is down, affecting their canned goods products. He did not provide exact figures though.

To make for the slower growth in FMCG products, Mega Global will harness other product offerings this year like the corned sardines and canned vegetable lines.

He also confirmed that they are also seeking a 5 percent increase in prices because of higher cost of raw materials and tin cans. This is also to ensure continued employment of their over 4,000 workers, support their innovation efforts, and growth.

Michelle Tiu Lim Chan, Mega Global's chief operating officer, also said they are having some issues in terms of fish supply so they are just on their regular production, but will ramp up production once supply sources come in.

Mega Global is also building its first plant in Luzon in Sto. Tomas, Batangas and will be launching fresh frozen fish line from Zamboanga for distribution in Luzon.

Meantime, the company’s MBS Program is now on its third year and has expanded to include not just its host communities but also other areas in Visayas and Mindanao to fight malnutrition affecting many children.

Together with the Mega Tiu Lim Foundation, the MBS will be working in partnership with the Reach Out Feed Philippines, which will spearhead the preparation of the meals daily, deliver these house to house to each beneficiary and provide a nutritional assessment of all recipes used in the program, and will also analyze and evaluate the results of the program.

The program aims to support 870 children from various barangays across six provinces through a 60-day nutrition program. These include Batangas, Navotas, Valenzuela, Samar, Surigao del Sur, and Zamboanga. Beneficiaries are children aged 4-12 years old, who will receive two nutritious meals daily for 60 days. The daily meals will include at least one sardines meal, made using Mega Global’s vitamin- and nutrient-packed high quality sardines.

At the beginning and end of the program, the weight, height, and mid-arm circumference of the children will be taken to gauge their progress. To encourage parents to support the nutrition program for their children, Mega Global will provide incentives to select participants who fit the program’s criteria - biggest gainer, most improved, etc.

To further ensure that the progress made is sustained, Mega Global will also be developing leave-behind materials containing affordable nutritious recipes made from ingredients that are easily accessible to the families. This will empower parents and the community with knowledge on how to prepare nutritious meals for the health and well-being of their children and loved ones.

“When we first launched this nutrition program two years ago, we saw how transformative it was for the beneficiaries, who not only saw an improvement in their weight, but also in their health and well-being. Inspired by their transformation, Mega Global decided to expand this program and make it sustainable by also educating the community on the importance of having good food and having good nutrition for the whole family,” said Lim.

The program aims to give life to its core value of “Malasakit for All” by uplifting the lives of impoverished children and allow them to achieve their potentials.