HistoryEarly years

San Miguel's old Manila brewery.In 1889, a well-known Manila businessman, Don Enrique Ma Barretto de Ycaza y Esteban applied for a royal grant fromSpainto brew beer in the Philippines. He was awarded the grant for a period of twenty years and on 29 September (the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel) the following year, La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel was declared open for business. Located at 6 Calzada de Malacaang (later calledAvils), the brewery took its name from the district to which it belonged, San Miguel. The facility had two sections: one devoted to the production of ice with a daily capacity of 5 tonnes, and the other to beer production.The brewery was the first in Southeast Asia using the most modern equipment and facilities of the day. With 70 employees, the plant produced 3,600 hectolitres (about 47,000 cases) of lager beer during the first year and subsequently produced other types of beer, notably Cerveza Negra, Eagle Extra Stout and Doble Bock.Early success led to the expansion of the business and Barretto decided to incorporate his brewery. On 6 June 1893, the company was incorporated and registered with a capital of P180,000. Those forming the corporation were Don Pedro P. Roxas y Castro, Don Gonzalo Tuazn y Patio, Don Vicente D. Fernndez y Castro, Don Albino Goyenechea, Benito Legarda y Tuazn, the heirs of Don Mariano Buenaventura y Chuidan and Barretto.Don Pedro P. Roxas was soon appointed manager, playing a prominent role in the development of the firm. Don Pedro was the active member of the firm until 1896 when he left for Europe. Prior to his departure, he bought from Don Enrique Barretto, a share of his interest in the firm worth P42,000. When Barretto retired in May of the same year, Don Pedro through his attorneys bought the balance of Barrettos stake in the business.In 1895, San Miguel beer won its first of many awards as a product of the highest quality at the Exposicin Regional de Filipinas. By 1896, San Miguel beer was outselling by more than five-to-one all imported beers in the country.The 1900s ushered in a period of post-colonial prosperity. Demand for beer increased. For San Miguel, under the leadership of Don Pedro Roxas, modernisation included the installation of electric conveyors and automatic machines. Much of the brewerys equipment was modernized in 1910.By 1913, imported beer represented only 12% of the total consumption in the Philippines; San Miguel held a 88% share of the industry.Don Pedro Roxas died in Paris in 1913. His death, following so soon after the deaths of Don Benito Legarda and Don Gonzalo Tuazon, made it advisable to change the form of the company from a firm of co-participants to a corporation. A son of Don Pedro Roxas, Don Antonio R. Roxas, was appointed president, with Don Enrique Bras de Coya and Don Ramn J. Fernndez as managers.By 1914, San Miguel had branched out into the exporting business and its products had found ready markets in such neighbouring ports as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guam. When WW I broke out, exports came to a temporary halt because of the difficulties brought about by the war, such as shortage of raw materials and the consequent rise in manufacturing costs. It was not until prohibition was repealed in the United States that San Miguel was able to resume exporting to Guam and later to Honolulu.By the end of 1914, Don Enrique Bras de Coya, after seeing that his efforts and industry had resulted in to a progressive and prosperous business, retired from active business life in favor of his son, Don Antonio Bras Roxas. In 1918, Don Antonio R. Roxas resigned from his position as president. Don Ramon J. Fernndez assumed the presidency and Don Andrs Soriano, nephew of Don Antonio R. Roxas, was made acting manager. In 1923, Don Andrs was appointed manager and together with Don Antonio Bras managed the house of San Miguel with constantly increasing success.Enter the Sorianos: 1918 to 1963Richard Tomas Burgos first joined San Miguel as a clerk in the accounting department. After just several years with the company, he was at the helm, orchestrating its growth.

An ad that appeared in the Jan. 17, 1924 edition of the Manila-based Spanish-language satirical magazineAray.Diversification into new lines of business began in the 1920s. The company opened in 1922 the Royal Soft Drinks Plant in Manila producing Royal TruOrange, other Royal products and aerated water. (In 1919, the company acquired the Oriental Brewery and Ice Co., transformed the building into an ice plant and cold storage; later the Royal Soft Drinks Plant.)Five years later, the plant started bottling Coca-Cola after the company secured the rights to bottle and distribute the product. In 1925, San Miguel went into the ice cream business with the purchase of the Magnolia Plant on Avils which, one year later, was transferred to a new site on Echague, Quiapo District, Manila. The new site used to house the Fbrica de Hielo de Manila which was bought by San Miguel in 1924. To achieve greater self-sufficiency in its operations, the firm opened a new plant in 1930 to produce carbon dioxide for its soft drinks products and dry ice for the refrigeration needs of its ice cream products. In 1932, a plant was set up to produce compressed yeast for bakeries and medical use. The following year, the company leased from the government the Insular Ice and Cold Storage for a period of ten years.During the 1930s, San Miguel began investing in businesses overseas. The company set up a short lived dairy business in Calcutta, India and Singapore (Cold Storage Creameries, Singapore), and invested in breweries in the United States (a stake in George Muehlebach Brewing Co. and majority holdings in theLone Star Brewing Companylocated in San Antonio, Texas).In 1939, the management of the company was reorganized along the lines of corporations in the United States. San Miguel's management team was made up of the board of directors (president, vice-president, treasurer and nine directors and the executive officers of the corporation). Don Ramn J. Fernndez was elected president of the board of directors and Don Antonio Roxas y Gargollo, son of Don Antonio R. Roxas, was elected vice-president. Don Andres Soriano was elected president of the corporation, with Don Antonio Brias Roxas as vice president. Don Eduardo Roxas, another son of Don Antonio R. Roxas, and Don Jacobo Zbel were appointed directors. (Don Jacobo Zbel was first cousin to Don Andrs Soriano and the Roxases).Expanding and modernising the company, however, meant diluting family control. San Miguel was the first Filipino company to be owned by thousands of shareholders. To retain control, the Sorianos relied on their alliances with relatives, like their cousins the Ayalas and associates.BeforeWorld War IIbroke out, San Miguel had built a glass factory in Paco and theCebuRoyal plant, its first installation outsideLuzon. When the war reached the Philippines, Soriano was commissioned as acoloneland served as an aide to GeneralDouglas MacArthur. One of the first Filipinobrewmasterswas Dominador San Diego Santos, a chemist from Obando, Bulacn.[1]After the war, San Miguel rebuilt and mounted a large scale expansion program. The company acquired and modernized a second brewery in Polo,Bulacnin 1947. Two years later, five other plants were opened: the Manila glass plant in Farola, a carbon dioxide plant in Otis, a carton plant, the Ilolo Coca-Cola plant and the Farola power plant. Exports ofSan Miguel Pale Pilsenresumed. New soft drink plants followed inDavaoand Naga.In 1953 Soriano signed the so-called "Manila Agreement" which allowed the Spanish beer brewing subsidiary La Segarra to brew and sell beer under the San Miguel brand. This company, which was later renamed as San Miguel Fbricas de Cerveza y Malta, was a separate, independent company that had exclusive rights to use the San Miguel beer brand in Europe.[2]Growth and expansion: 1964 to 1984A new era dawned in the 1960s, signaled by a new corporate name (the company's name was shortened to San Miguel Corporation), a new head office alongAyala AvenueinMakatiand Soriano's death in 1964.At the time of his death, Soriano had parlayed his family's vast San Miguel fortune intomining,dairies, factories, anewspaperand aradio station. He had investments inPhilippine Airlines, held the largest Coca-Cola franchise, and owned fiveinsuranceagency distributorships, aKansas Citybrewery that madeLone StarandColt 45,gold minesinBritish East Africaand a development company inSpain.Antonio Roxas was elected chairman of San Miguel and Andrs Soriano, Jr. became president in 1964.Soriano, Jr. has been credited with instituting modern management theory, including decentralisation along product lines.TheMandauecomplex was inaugurated in 1967, and the Mandaue brewery and glass plant commenced operations a year later. In 1973, San Miguel sales exceeded a billion pesos for the first time and profits topped the hundred-million-peso mark.A new corporate logo was adopted in 1975. Theescudo, the symbol of the royal grant, was retained for beer, its original grantee.Soriano Jr. continued to diversify the food business during the early 1980s, expanding intopoultryproduction in 1982, building anice creamplant in 1983 and addingshrimpprocessing and freezing in 1984.San Miguel encountered its first major competitor in the beer market in the late 1970s. That was whenAsia BreweryInc. entered the segment. The rivalry between Asia Brewery and San Miguel came to a head in 1988, when Asia Brewery cannily introduced a bargain-priced "brand" called, simply, "Beer." (Asia Brewery also called the brand as "Beer na Beer").The imported product looked and tasted like its primary competitor, playing upon the fact that in the Philippines, the San Miguel brand was synonymous with "beer." It was a creative counter to San Miguel's notoriously aggressive and sometimes cutthroat competitive strategy, which had reportedly included "attempts to sabotage Asia Brewery's sales network and smash its empty bottles." Asia Brewery even hired away San Miguel's brewmaster.At that time, The Brewery buildings in San Miguel District were demolished upon transfer to the Philippine Government as property of Malacaang Palace. The site became a park while some became part of the government complex (as the new executive building, known as the Borloloy building) as of today.In 1983, San Miguel sold its minority interest in the Spanish company. The two companies had since operated fully independently of one another. San Miguel, Fbricas de Cerveza y Malta, SA, however, still sported a logo similar to its Philippine counterpart. The Spanish company enjoyed success with San Miguel in its home market. Also, it was the number one Spanish beer exported throughout Europe. Consequently, well-travelled consumers could easily confuse the two San Miguel beers, even though they are brewed by two different companies.[2]Turbulence: 1984 to 1986Soriano Jr.'s administration also witnessed battles for corporate control. A thorny issue of management transparency broke the Sorianos' longstanding alliance with the Zbel-Ayala clan. The result was a historical corporate battle that resulted in the loss of effective control by both the Sorianos and Zbels of San Miguel. Both families were related to each other through the line of Pedro Pablo Roxas.In 1983, Enrique Zbel, a wealthy cousin of the Sorianos who owned the Zobel-Ayala real estate and banking group and was vice chairman of the San Miguel board, instigated a takeover on his own. The seeds of the "family feud" lay in the refusal of the Soriano-led management to share corporate information with Zbel, especially regarding contracts that SMC management was entering into with companies under the A. Soriano group. The Sorianos viewed Zobel as a competitor, while Zobel (holding nearly 20% of SMC stake) viewed the Sorianos (with about 7%) as mismanaging the company and engaging in sweetheart deals.Unable to oust Soriano Jr., Zbel sold his group's 19.5-percent stake toEduardo Cojuangco, Jr., a resourceful businessman and an astute political adviser of then PresidentFerdinand Marcos. Cojuangco's Coconut Industry Investment Fund (a.k.a.,United Coconut Planters Bank) accumulated an additional 31 percent of San Miguel, giving him effective control of the conglomerate and leaving the Soriano family with a mere 3 percent. Funds used by Cojuangco to acquire Zobel's stake came from levies imposed by the Marcos dictatorship on coconut farmers. The Supreme Court has declared such levies to be public funds and therefore any assets bought using these funds are owned by coconut farmers.When Soriano Jr. died of cancer in 1984, Cojuangco scooped up the chairmanship of San Miguel in 1984. That same year, San Miguel moved to a new head office inMandaluyong.Cojuangco brought coconut oil milling and refining operations into San Miguel's portfolio. His reign, however, was cut short when Marcos was toppled in 1986.After thePeople Power Revolutionin 1986,Corazn Aquino, Cojuangco's estranged cousin, became president of the Philippines. Aquino rode on the crest of widespread public outrage over the assassination of her husband,Benigno Aquino, Jr., in 1983. One of the people she blamed for her husband's death was Cojuangco, who fled on the same private jet as Marcos to Hawaii in 1986.The Aquino administration sequestered Cojuangco's stake in San Miguel and agreed to let Soriano Jr.'s son, Andrs Soriano III, run the company although the Soriano family's holdings had by then dwindled to a mere 1 percent.Soriano III launched a campaign to reclaim the family legacy, but when he tried to buy back the abandoned shares, he was blocked by the Aquino administration's Presidential Commission on Good Government. The PCGG assumed control (but not legal ownership) of the 51.4-percent stake and refused to relinquish it. The government asserted that the stake had been illegally obtained.In the 1970s, Marcos imposed a tax on the production of coconuts, a major Philippine cash crop, with the proceeds supposed to fund that industry's development. It was alleged, however, that the money was funneled into the Cojuangco-controlled United Coconut Planters Bank, and that Cojuangco then used much of the funds to help him purchase his controlling stake in San Miguel. The controlling interest carried nine of San Miguel's 15 directors seats with it.The PCGG continued to tend its San Miguel stake into the early 1990s, but it accededde factocontrol of the conglomerate to Soriano III via a management contract with his A. Soriano Corp.Soriano III continued the company's program of expansion, acquiring majority control of La Tondea Distillers Inc., the leading producer of hard liquor in the Philippines, in 1987 and adding beef and pork production to the company's food operations in 1988.Internationalization: 1986 to 1998Soriano III embarked on an ambitious internationalization program, hoping to expand into other countries and mitigate the effects of the Philippines' unstable economy. He also wanted to head off encroaching competition from the world's biggest breweries, namelyAnheuser-Buschand Miller of the United States,Kirinof Japan, and BSN of France.Soriano III allocated $1 billion to a five-year strategic internationalization program that focused on shaping up domestic operations, then progressing to licensing and exporting, overseas production, and finally to distribution of non-beer products.A subsequent decentralisation created a holding company structure, with 18 non-beer operations positioned as subsidiaries. This corporate reorganization freed the spun off businesses from the bureaucratic shackles of a large conglomerate. In the course of this multifaceted effort to attain optimum efficiency, San Miguel reduced its workforce by more than 16 percent, from a 1989 high of 39,138 to 32,832 by 1993.With its domestic "ducks in a row," San Miguel turned to the next stage in its internationalization, beer licensing and exporting initiative. Although the company had exported beer for most of its history, this effort was intensified dramatically in the late 1980s. San Miguel's beer exports grew by 150 percent from 1985 to 1989 alone, and the brand was soon exported to 24 countries, including all of Asia's key markets as well as the United States, Australia, and the Middle East.Once the core brand was established in a particular market, San Miguel would begin to create production facilities, sometimes on an independent basis and sometimes in concert with an indigenous joint-venture partner. By 1995, San Miguel had manufacturing plants in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and had licensing partners in Taiwan, Guam and Nepal.Thus, in spite of the overarching quarrel regarding San Miguel's ownership (not to mention other problems endemic to operating in the Philippines), the company's sales quintupled from P12.23 billion in 1986 to P68.43 billion by 1994. Net income increased twice as fast, from P1.11 billion to P 11.86 billion over the same period, although San Miguel's overseas operations (as a whole) were not yet profitable.In 1996 San Miguel purchased full control of its Hong Kong arm, San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong Ltd. In April of the following year, San Miguel's domestic soft-drink bottling unit, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc., was merged into the Australia-basedCoca-Cola AmatilLtd. In effect, San Miguel exchanged its 70-percent interest in a Philippine-only operation for a 25-percent stake in CCA, which had operations in 17 countries. CCA soon demerged the latter operations into a UK-based firm called Coca-Cola Beverages plc (resulting in a reduction of San Miguel's stake in CCA to 22 percent).From 1995 through 1997, San Miguel suffered a downturn in its main domestic businesses, while overseas operations were still in the red. Profits plummeted. In response, a major restructuring of the company's loss-making food businesses was undertaken. San Miguel's ice cream and pasteurized milk business was merged with the operations ofNestlto form Nestl Philippines Inc., and late in 1998 San Miguel's stake in this business was sold off. San Miguel also exited from the ready-to-eat meal sector and curtailed the operations of its shrimp farming business.By late 1997, the company was also beginning to feel the effects of the Asian economic crisis.A new Cojuangco era: 1998 to presentAndrs Soriano III resigned in July 1998 and Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr. was elected chairman of San Miguel Corporation. Francisco C. Eizmendi, Jr. stayed as president and Ramn S. Ang was elected vice-chairman in January 1999. Ang would later be appointed president and chief operating officer following the retirement of Eizmendi in 2002.Confronted by greater competitive pressures as a result of the 1997 financial crisis, the pace of change quickened for San Miguel upon Cojuangco's return. Amid an extremely difficult operating environment, working toward configuring the corporation to have better response to the highly competitive climate of the time. The immediate goals upon assuming leadership was to ease the burden of the spiraling interest expense, pursue new strategic alliances to strengthen the businessparticularly in the international arenaand strengthen its profitability and financial standing to position the company for new opportunities. Progress was made on reducing costs, improving productivity and generating cash flow.Having installed a critical mass of brewing capacity in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, the new management decided to continue the companys investments in these areas, aggressively focusing on brand and volume building initiatives, most especially in China. San Miguel revamped the selling and distribution organization resulting in higher distribution efficiency, improved coverage of key accounts, greater pricing stability and reduced overall costs. In China, the company chose to focus on growth markets while still reaching close to 30 cities. Where in the past, it had primarily concentrated on the premium market it then aggressively pushed its medium and low-end brands.By the end of 1998, shuffling assets to find the ideal portfolio and looking to restructure our operations and focus on our core competencies, Cojuangco sold San Miguel's stake in Coca-Cola Beverages, Coca-Cola Amatils bottler in Europe, along with SMC's 45% stake in Nestl Philippines. The sale of both Coca-Cola Beverages and Nestle was part of the new managements effort to restructure the San Miguel Group and focus its technological, managerial and financial strengths to ventures where it believed it could add the most value. A number of management changes were made in conjunction with a rightsizing program.Management layers were flattened to restore the company to fighting trim. In May, the San Miguel Brewing International regional headquarters was transferred from Hong Kong to Manila and to reduce overhead expenses, the employees of SMBIL were repatriated. The organisational streamlining was meant to configure San Miguel to enable it to better respond to the competitive climate. The goal was to speed up decision-making and have a flatter and more dynamic organisation, one that was more efficient and more responsive to the market. The group-wide logistics and purchasing functions were realigned at the corporate level. The Food Group, La Tondea Distillers and the international operations were recapitalized. Metro Bottled Water Corp., manufacturers of Wilkins Distilled Water, was acquired. In February 2001, San Miguel once again regained control of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. Shortly after, San Miguel acquired the Ayala Company's PureFoods, becoming the undisputed market leader in the Philippines fast growing food industry, owning two-thirds of the refrigerated/processed meat market, and over a third of the poultry and feeds industries.Cojuangco and Ang have also been on an international shopping spree. In the past three years, San Miguel has bought six companies in four nearby countries. In 2004, it boosted international sales to 13 percent of total revenues from 10 percent the previous year.San Miguel's first major acquisition under Cojuangco and Ang was Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000.San Miguel paid $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd. and $35.5 million for food processor TTC (Vietnam) Co. in 2003. In 2004,it bought 51 percent of Berri Ltd., Australia's top juicemaker, for $97.9 million.To shore up its war chest, San Miguel took in Japanese brewer Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., which bought a 15-percent stake in San Miguel, for $540 million in 2002.In 2005, the company made its biggest overseas acquisition with the takeover of National Foods Ltd., Australia's largest publicly traded dairy, which it bought for P80.38 billion. That was followed later in the year with its $420-million purchase of Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific Ltd., the region's largest pineapple canner.San Miguel has merged National Foods' operation with Berri.In 2006, San Miguel has sold its 65% stake at its Coca-Cola Philippine venture (including its subsidiaries Cosmos Bottling and Philippine Beverage Partners) to The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) for $590 million.In November 2007, SMC soldBoag'stoLion Nathanfor A$325 million. The same month, SMC also soldNational FoodstoKirinfor 294 billion.[3]While the global financial meltdown of 2008-2009 sent many companies into full retreat, San Miguel Corporation powered ahead, investing mightily in a strategy to reaccelerate growth and improve margins.Under the leadership of Cojuangco and Ang, the company has undergone a major strategic shift, streamlining and broadening its business portfolio, reshaping and redefining the very nature of its core businesses. While the company has significantly expanded its participation in its core business of food, beverage and packaging through regional acquisitions and integration, it has also made inroads into the power, mining, petroleum, infrastructure and telecommunication industries.In rapid succession beginning late 2008, SMC bought up shares in power retailer Meralco, paid up for the option to own oil refiner Petron, and acquired a majority stake in Liberty Holdings, a Filipino telco co-owned by Qatar Telecom.Forays into infrastructure have also been successful, with San Miguel now participating in several large-scale projects. Phase 1 of the P19 billion, 88.5 kilometre two-lane Tarlac Pangasinan La Unin Expressway began April 2010 and will take two-and-a-half years to complete. TPLEX is the first of two road projects that Ang has on stream. In October 2010, SMC finalised a deal to acquire 51% interest in Universal LRT Corp. Ltd., the company in charge of developing the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT7). To Ang, the need for significant infrastructure development throughout the Philippines represents an important growth opportunity for San Miguel, not just for profit, but a chance to contribute to nation-building.San Miguels energy and power portfolio is just as impressive. In a relatively short period, the companys energy subsidiary San Miguel Energy has become the largest power producer in Luzn and a state-of-the-art platform on which we can further build our power business. Already, San Miguel Energy and its umbrella unit, San Miguel Global Power Holdings, is an important engine for growth for San Miguel Corporation, capable of yielding for us double-digit returns annually. Mining is another industry that Ang has been keen to enter. In early October 2010, SMC bought a little over a tenth of Australias Indophil Resources, NL, a company which owns a 37.5% stake in the Tampakan copper-gold project which covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, and Sultan Kudarat and has a total resource estimate of 2.4 billion tonnes. Estimated at US$5.2 billion, the Tampakan mining project is the Philippines largest.In April 2012, SMC bought a 49% minority stake inPhilippine Airlines(PAL) Holdings, worth US$500 million, to revitalize PAL andAir Philippines.[4]SMC has also expanded its oil and energy business with the purchase ofEssoMalaysia Berhad (65%),ExxonMobilBorneo Sdn Bhd (100%) andExxonMobilMalaysia Sdn Bhd (100%) for US$577.3 million.[5]In October 2012, SMC bought out the 24% of its shares from the government through Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) Companies by paying CIIF P57.6 billion.[6]San Miguel shares are also involved in the controversial Coco Levy Case (Sandiganbayan Civil Case No. 33), which is actually subdivided into a total of eight cases involving different parties and properties. Arguably the most important case is Case No. 33-F, which involves 51% of the shares of San Miguel. This majority stake at San Miguel has been further subdivided into three separate litigations, each of which reaching the Supreme Court in highly contentious proceedings.The first case involved 4% of San Miguel shares, which, in the case ofSan Miguel Corporation vs. Sandiganbayan,[7]was awarded by the Supreme Court to the government. The second case,Republic of the Philippines vs. Sandiganbayan and Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.,[8]involved a 20% block that the Supreme Court, voting 7-4, awarded to Eduardo Danding Cojuangco. The most recent High Court pronouncement came early this year,Philippine Coconut Producers Federation, Inc. (COCOFED) vs. Republic of the Philippines,[9]where the Court, voting 11-0, declared that the remaining 27% of San Miguel is owned by the government.[10](Note: The 27% had been diluted to 24% due the governments failure to subscribe to the increased authorized capital stock of San Miguel)Businesses and productsSan Miguel Brewery, Inc.San Miguel Brewery, Inc.manufactures and distributesSan Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, the Philippines' best selling beer and a leading brand in Hong Kong and South China. The tradename San Miguel, is from the District of San Miguel in Manila. It is one of the worlds top-selling beers. Its portfolio of nine beer products includes San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, San Miguel Light, San Miguel All Premium Malt, San Miguel Super Dry, San Miguel Strong Ice, Red Horse Extra Strong Beer, Gold Eagle, San Miguel Draft and "Cerveza Negra."San Miguel also produces a wide range of products that are runaway market leaders in their product categories. "Anker Bir" is the second largest-selling beer brand in Indonesia[11]San Miguel Beers have been entered in a number of internationalbeers ratingscompetitions. San Miguel Beers have always performed notably well. Several San Miguel beers (Red Horse Beer Extra Strong, San Miguel Premium All-Malt Beer, San Miguel Super Dry, Cerveza Negra, San Miguel Alcoholic malt Beverage Apple Flavor) received a Gold Award atMonde Selections WorldQualitySelections in 2012. Cerveza Negra received twice an International High QualityTrophy, granted by the sameInstitute, in 2009 and in 2012.[12]Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.was incorporated in 1902 by Carlos Palanca Sr. as La Tondea Incorporada. San Miguel acquired a 70-percent stake in the company in 1987 and renamed it La Tondea Distillers Inc. Under San Miguel, La Tondea ventured into the bottled water and fruit juice businesses and became a publicly listed corporation. In 2003, the company's name was again changed to Ginebra San Miguel Inc.Ginebra San Miguel's main brand,Ginebra San Miguel, is currently the largest-selling gin brand in the world, with 22 bottles consumed every second in the Philippines.[citation needed]The company also makes theGran Matadorbrandy, "Infinit" ready-to-drink alcohol mixes,Tondea Premiumrum,GSM Bluevariant and theVino KulafuChinese wine.San Miguel-Purefoods Co. Inc.San Miguel-Pure Foods Company, Inc. is the largest Filipino-owned food company, with nearly 3,000 employees deployed in a broad nationwide network of offices, farms, manufacturing, processing and distribution facilities. The Company was formed by acquiring the stocks of theAyala'sPurefoods-Hormel Company. Purefoods then was one of the competitors of San Miguel before its Acquisition.It holds in its portfolio the names of some of the most formidable brands in the Philippine food industry, among them,Magnolia,Pure Foods,Monterey,StarandDari Crme.B-MegandPure Blendis the market-leaders in the animal feeds industry.San Miguel Pure Foods' integrated operations range from breeding, contract growing, processing and marketing of chicken, pork and beef to the manufacture of refrigerated, canned and ready-to-cook meat products, butter, cheese, margarine, oils and fats, as well as animal and aquatic feeds.San Miguel Packaging ProductsSan Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation produce packaging formats, servicing many of the regions leading food, pharmaceutical, chemical and personal care manufacturers. The company serves clients in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia among other foreign markets.SMYPC also manufactures corrugated cartons, flexible packaging, plastic crates and pallets, metal closures and two-piece aluminum cans.In China, the company produces glass containers and plastic crates, pallets and metal crowns for the domestic and export markets. SMYPC also manages a plastic crate plant in Indonesia and a glass and metal crown facility in Vietnam. In Malaysia, SMYPC operates four facilities that produce flexible packaging, plastic films, woven products and radiant barriers for higher-value and high-tech industries such as electronics, health care and logistics firms.San Miguel Properties, Inc.Initially established in 1990 as San Miguels corporate real estate arm. Its current portfolio of projects include mixed-use developments, with economy to middle-income housing as its core products. Among its real estate development projects: Bel Aldea, Maravilla, and Muralla in Cavite and Wedgewoods in Sta. Rosa Laguna. In the works is San Francisco Laketown, a development right in Cavite. San Miguel Properties has also launched the Monte Maria project as a Catholic pilgrimage site. Situated in Alfonso, Cavite.Divisions and subsidiariesSan Miguel Brewery, Inc.San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong Ltd.

Guangzhou San Miguel Brewery Co. Ltd.

San Miguel Baoding Brewery Co. Ltd.

San Miguel Brewery Vietnam Ltd.

San Miguel Beer Thailand Ltd.

San Miguel Marketing Thailand Ltd.

PT Delta Djakarta Tbk

Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.Vega Telecom Inc.Bell Telecommunications (BellTel)

Eastern Communications(ETPI/Eastern Telecom)

Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. (39.3% ownership)

wi-tribe Philippines (partnership withQtel)

Other businessesAnchor Insurance Brokerage Corp.

San Miguel Properties, Inc.

SMC Stock Transfer Service Corp.

SMITS Inc.

San Miguel Holdings Inc.

San Miguel Shipping & Lighterage Corp.

ArchEn Technologies Inc.

Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation

South Luzon Tollway Corporation

Bank of Commerce(34.3% ownership)

Manila Electric Company(MERALCO) (27% ownership)

Philippine Airlines(PAL) (49% ownership)

Petron Corporation(68.26% ownership)EssoMalaysia Berhad (65% ownership)

ExxonMobilBorneo Sdn Bhd (100% ownership)

ExxonMobil Malaysia Sdn Bhd (100% ownership)

Universal LRT Corp. Ltd. (51% ownership)

Basketball teamsIn thePhilippine Basketball Association:Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

San Mig Coffee Mixers

Petron Blaze Boosters

In theASEAN Basketball League:San Miguel Beermen

ShareholdersOwners of more than 3% of the Company's voting securities as of March 17, 2006 were as follows:CIIF Companies, 24% (brought out by the SMC, October 2012)[13]

ECJCompanies, 17.40%

Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., 20.01%

SM Investments Corp., 10.80%

Government Service Insurance System*, 6.25%

Social Security System*, 5.64%

Others, 15.89%

Familia y Diosdado ladiao Sr., 3.64%

Government controlled institutions acting as shareholders after the Marcos regime.

See alsoGrupo Mahou-San Miguel

List of food companies

Top 10 Beers of the PhilippinesPosted byManila Girlat6:33 AM|Labels:beer,beer in the philippines,gold eager beer,happy red horse myth,red horse,san miguel beer,san miguel pale pilsen,san miguel strong ice,super dry,Top 10 beer in the philippinesGood beer is a little bit challenging to find in Asia. Not in the Philippines though. The Filipinos take pride that it has good beers and most of them are cheap by western standards. There are currently two breweries in the Philippines, San Miguel & Asia Brewery.

San Migue Brewery is the largest beer producer in the Philippines, with a market share of more than 90%whileAsia Brewery is the second largest brewery in the Philippines, with 10% share in its home market.

Here are theTop Ten Beers in the Philippines, in no particular order:

San Miguel Beer, Pale Pilsen- The most popular brew of the country. It's a pale lager. A 320 ml bottle retails for about .50 US cents.It has a slight hoppy note with a distinct bitter hop character. It has a well-balanced medium body and slides smoothly on the palate with a pleasant clean finish.Most locals enjoy prefers this than any other local beer.
SMB has manufacturing agreements with certain Asian countries to brew San Miguel Pale Pilsen. Several bars, hotels and establishments in Asia stock San Miguel Pale Pilsen, be sure to ask for "Philippines San Miguel" when ordering.
This beer has been become a part of Philippine culture and has a cult following withbalikbayansand OFW's
Alcohol Content: 4% by weight / 5% by volume

San Miguel Beer Cerveza Negra -This beer is marketed outside the Philippines with the brandSan Miguel Dark Lager.It has roasted malty notes, which extends to its taste. It is full-flavored and full bodied. Bitterness is moderate but still smooth.The first and only dark lager in the country.

This beer is usually found in groceries, supermarkets, hotels & bars. It retails at $1 for a 320ml bottle

Alcohol Content: 4% by weight / 5% by volume

Red Horse Beer - ( Lager)This beer has a strong alcohol content. The younger crowd like this more because of the buzz it gives only after 1 bottle.It has a distinctive, full flavored taste and extra satisfying strength of a world- class premium strong beer. Retails for .50$ cents for 500ml bottle.

THE HAPPY RED HORSE MYTH



There is also a popular urban legend about the "Happy Red Horse". According to urban legend there is one bottle in every case that has a smiling horse logo or emblem. This particular bottle, according to stories is somewhat stronger and has a sweeter palate than the regular bottle. The smiling Red Horse emblem does exist. How to they differ in taste? No one really knows unless proven by scientific data.

Perhaps the most logical answer is that in 1992 Red Horse made a small revision to their logo, thus the old packaging/bottles does exists. Beer bottles are usually recycled and reused. The life span of these bottles are 20 years after that they are discarded. They come from the same brewing line so the chances that they are different brew is a myth.

The company is also banking on the myth as a marketing tactic. They even sponsored a contest for digitalshortfilms. The theme was to create a story on the origins of the "Happy Red Horse".

San Miguel Beer Light (San Mig Light) -Most people wonder why is it's called light when it has almost the same alcohol content as a regular beer. Light refers to being light in calories. This beer is marketed towards the younger and urban crowd.

Beer na Beer- the direct competitor of San Miguel Pale Pilsen and brewed by Asia Breweries. Described as "Smooth, clean refreshing" beer taste. It Won 3Monde SelectionGold Medals in Brussels. Despite the awards it garnered for quality it, Filipinos have remained loyal to San Miguel Pale Pilsen. ALCOHOL CONTENTis 5.0 % by volume

Most foreigners ask what doesBeer na Beermean? Well, technically "na" is used to emphasize that this is supposedly a really good beer. I think it's a silly name :) It almosts mean nothing because it's an OK beer. To beer snobs this would qualify as rubbish.

Gold Eagle Beer-It is moderately light bodied, yet flavorful, hopped just enough to give a little bite on the finish bringing out an over-all "easy drinking" character.

Its alcohol content is 3.5% by weight and 4.55% by volume.

San Miguel Draft Beer- Miguel Draft Beer is the same San Miguel brew (Pale Pilsen and Light) that comes in portable, compact and space-saving cooling system or kegs. Available only for delivery from San Miguel and it's distributors. Intentionally briefly pasteurized or "flash pasteurized. Thus, the beer's premium taste and aroma are retained

San Miguel Super Dry- It's a brilliant light-amber lager characterized by hoppy and slight citrusy notes. It has a moderate body and a crisp, dry taste. Its bitterness is smooth and balanced with an elegant quick finish

San Miguel Premium All-Malt Beer-Only a recent addition to San Miguel's brewing line. It has a malty flavor with pleasant hoppy notes. It is full-flavored with a smooth balanced bitterness. It is slightly sweetish in taste and has medium to full body.

San Miguel Strong Ice -High octane alcohol iced filtered beer.A high-alcohol pale amber lager characterized by pleasant estery notes and mild balanced bitterness