19/01/2010 (Business Mirror) - MINOLA, the cooking oil brand of government-sequestered CIIF-Oil Mills Group, recorded a 38-percent increase in revenues last year to P1.8 billion and is targeting higher growth this year as it lines up an aggressive marketing and promotional campaign.

Jesus L. Arranza, president and chief executive officer of CIIF-Oil Mills, said Minola also slightly grew its market-leading share to 19 percent from about 17 percent in 2008 when the brand had total sales of P1.3 billion.

Minola sold close to 100,000 metric tons of cooking oil last year.

This year, in the occasion of the brand’s 50th anniversary, Arranza said CIIF is launching an aggressive marketing and promotional campaign as it seeks to expand Minola’s market share by 7 percentage points to 26 percent.

“After three years of absence, Minola will be back in TV commercials and promos. We are now preparing the budget for that,” Arranza said.

CIIF will also put up promotional booths in the community markets where Minola buyers will get to draw prizes that are related to cooking. The company also launched its new “Pasobra” pack that has 20-percent more content.

Community markets, where Minola is sold in dip outs, account for about 70 percent of the brand’s sales.

Minola is also distributing modern dispensing machines in supermarkets for dip outs and bulk buyers.

The consumer packs account for 10 percent to 15 percent, with the rest coming from industrial and institutional sales.

Minola also purchased the Effytec machines, employing a new technology that promotes more efficient production of packaging in roll form, thus, significantly cutting the operating cost of the company. Minola’s plant in Cagayan de Oro is employing these machines and the packaging yield will be distributed nationwide.

There are more than 100 brands that are competing in the domestic cooking oil market, with Baguio Oil ranking second at less than 10-percent share.

And to address the growing users of palm oil, CIIF partnered with PT Sinarmas of Indonesia for the distribution of its Mitra-brand palm oil in the market.