SM already works with suppliers of different sizes nationwide, giving smaller businesses a market for their products and experience meeting the volume, quality and consistency demanded by large retailers.
That could become a springboard overseas as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade pact linking Southeast Asia with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, makes it easier to sell across the region.
“The proof of concept is how the grocery shelf is stocked. What we have to be able to do is to be present on all the shelves of the participating economies in RCEP,” SM Investments economist Robert Dan Roces said at a regional trade summit in Manila.
From SM shelves to Asia
The opportunity is already visible in the other direction: Korean, Japanese and Thai products have become common in Philippine supermarkets, while Filipino goods remain harder to find in markets such as Seoul and Bangkok, Roces said.
“RCEP opens the door, but Filipino products still have to earn their place on the shelf,” SM Investments president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said. “Suppliers need to meet the quality, volume and consistency that larger markets demand. Businesses like ours can help them get there.”
RCEP gives businesses preferential market access and common trading rules across 15
SM’s retail reach gives local suppliers a domestic proving ground before they attempt to sell into larger regional markets, turning the group’s stores into more than just an endpoint for their products.
“What we need to do is shorten the trip and make the outbound journey easier,” Roces said.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
