Jotun to expand in the Philippines

Norwegian paint brand Jotun is expanding its presence in the Philippines. The company has announced that it is set to open three retail stores in the south east Asian country.

The announcement was made at a media reception hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines, Christian Lyster, in Makati City on Friday, October 13.

The General Manager of Jotun (Philippines) Inc., Rohan Shetty, said the company opened its first retail store in Cebu back in July. Still, the firm is working on opening two more stores in Metro Manila – one in Ortigas and on in Makati. The stores will be focusing on decorative paint and is set to open within this year.

Huge growth opportunity

“The Philippines, with its growth opportunities, has a huge room to grow our retail base,” Shetty said. He added that Jotun has expanded to the decorative segment as it covers 70-80% of the market. Particularly hotels and the tourism sector is in big demand for decorative paint.

“Almost 25 to 30% of it is the premium segment. We want a part of that market,” he added.

In 2017, Jotun invested in a production facility in Santo Tomas, Batangas, that produces industrial and marine paint.

Shetty stated that the decorative paint that will be sold in the new retail stores will be imported for now. In the future, Jotun’s Batangas plant has four hectares of land ready to expand into manufacturing decorative paint locally.