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The new facility spans 118,132 square meters, or nearly 12 hectares, making it the company's second production base after its original manufacturing plant in Bulacan.
The company said the investment will increase output for its existing Lemon Square products while creating capacity to develop new food offerings and enter additional product categories.
Why it matters
The expansion allows Big E Food to strengthen service to southern Philippine markets while improving distribution to the Visayas and Mindanao. The move also reflects continued manufacturing investments by established Filipino food companies seeking additional capacity to meet domestic demand.
Founded in 1985, Big E Food has grown from a family-run bakery into a nationwide manufacturer of cakes, pastries, cookies, and snack products sold through supermarkets, convenience stores, and neighborhood retailers. Lemon Square remains one of its flagship brands.
The company said it evaluated several sites across Laguna and Batangas before selecting LIMA Estate because of its infrastructure, security, estate management, and the opportunity to own the property instead of leasing it.
"Our original plant in Bulacan serves the North, so we needed a strategic base to serve the South," Big E Food Corporation technical director Ernesto Ramos Jr. said in a press statement.
"We looked at several areas in Laguna and Batangas, and LIMA Estate stood out. They gave us the option to own our land rather than lease, along with reliable facilities, strong security, and a management team that was straightforward to work with," he added.
The bigger picture
LIMA Estate, a PEZA-registered industrial estate in Batangas, hosts more than 200 local and foreign manufacturers employing about 75,000 workers. Big E's expansion adds to a growing cluster of food, consumer goods, and industrial manufacturers operating within the estate.
Aboitiz Economic Estates vice president of industrial and commercial business Clifford M. Academia said, "Big E Food Corporation's decision to establish its southern manufacturing base here reflects the kind of long-term commitment LIMA Estate is built to support."
"From land ownership to infrastructure and on-the-ground support, our role is to give locators the certainty they need to expand and operate efficiently, and to grow alongside a community of fellow manufacturers," Academia added.
At full operations, the facility is expected to create about 2,000 jobs while supporting technical skills training and community initiatives, including school feeding programs and scholarships for employees' children.
"Helping out has always been part of who we are, inside and outside the company. We're creating jobs, teaching technical skills, and investing in the community so families here have a more stable future," Ramos said. —Vanessa Hidalgo| Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
