The company said that revenue from its two manufacturing facilities stood at $10.24 million, driven by a big rise in demand for consumer goods.

San Miguel , which is the largest food company in the Philippines and one of the largest in Asia, reported that its plants -Yamamura Haiphong Glass and San Miguel Phu Tho Packaging - earned revenues 11.2 per cent higher than the $9.21 million it registered year-on-year.

The company's packaging division, San Miguel Packaging Products (SMPP), currently runs both its domestic and international packaging businesses.

The two SMPP facilities cater mostly to the food and beverage sectors in Vietnam.

Both San Miguel Yamamura and Phu Tho, as well as the other facilities of San Miguel in the country, benefit from the increased consumption growth that is currently sweeping the country's economy the Vietnamese economy.

Vietnam's real private consumption jumped 13 per cent in 2004 from 7 per cent the year before, accelerated by rising employment and growing incomes. As a result of this current growth economists consider it to be one of the fastest in the region.

San Miguel says that the, besides the economic growth in the country, increases in operating efficiency and strategic material sourcing programmes have also helped to boost the performance of its packaging business.

Adding to this, it also says that its strategies to seek further growth and to tap into new markets has also helped to contribute to the growth.

SMPP currently has ten international facilities across the Philippines, Vietnam and China.

Its packaging formats include plastic containers for beverages, stand up pouches for condiments, retortable flexibles for processed meats, fish and food sauces and aseptic packaging systems for fruits and vegetable drinks.