The Pork Shop Molino 3 Branch Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with (L-R) Virginia Farms, Inc. Marketing Manager, Ms. Aileen G. Yap; Fr. Manny Colmenar; Property Owner, Mr. Martin Gascon; Virginia Farms Inc. President; Mr. Rolando E. Tambago; Property Owner, Mrs. Reynosa Gascon; Sr. Manager for Sales and Marketing, Ms. Kathleen T. Chiu; and The Pork Shop Operations Manager, Ms. Monina A. Kadchao.
Virginia Farms, Inc.’s retail brand, The Pork Shop, officially enters the vast Luzon market with the opening of its branches in Cavite and Las Piñas City.
The Pork Shop is the leading pork retailer brand in Cebu, which first operated in 2008, and now runs a total of 46 branches spread across Metro Cebu area. It also has three branches in Iloilo City, which opened in 2020.
As of March 8, 2024, the brand’s total footprint increased to 52 with the opening of three (3) additional branches – two (2) of which are located in Cavite and one in Las Piñas City.
According to Virginia Farms, Inc. president Rolando E. Tambago, they have always eyed more expansions for their brand and has envisioned the Cebu-grown brand to one day become a household brand among Filipinos nationwide.
“Our expansion plans took a setback during the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and then when the ASF (African Swine Fever) started affecting hogs across the country. We have to rethink our strategies but we have always made it our goal to expand outside of Cebu,” said Tambago.
Tambago added that despite the current supply challenges and the continued threat of ASF in the country, the company thinks that this year is the best year to finally take a step towards entering the bigger market of Luzon.
Their first three branches are located in Molino 3 in Bacoor City; San Francisco in General Trias City and Talon 5 in Las Piñas City. They will also open two more branches on April located in Moonwalk, Parañaque City and in Paliparan, Dasmariñas City.
The company is set to open a total of twelve (12) branches in Luzon, bringing their total number to 61 branches.
STABLE SUPPLY
While some commercial farms downsized their operations or even stopped operations because of fear of loss due to ASF, Tambago said the company has put in place measures to ensure it has the capacity to support and sustain their expansions, especially with supply.
“We have our own farm located in Asturias, Cebu and we are also in the works for another farm in Aloguinsan, Cebu and in Luzon with the aim to double our capacity to support the growing demand from all our expansions.”
