In a statement on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said National Foods currently makes sales worth A$55 million, (5.5 per cent of total revenues) from markets like Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Indonesia.

"We would like to extend National Foods' product reach to high-growth emerging markets like the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand," said San Miguel president Ramon Ang.

Sales growth will come from new dairy products being developed for Asian consumers, such as a high-calcium milk, aswell as juice products like Sunblest and Burst made by Berri Ltd, an Australian firm recently acquired by San Miguel.

"By mid-2006, we want to place National Foods and Berri products within the reach of Asian consumers. Given the trend and shift in consumer preferences to categories associated with nutrition and health, we're confident that consumers from all over the region will respond favorably to our dairy and juice products," Ang said.

San Miguel, which is aggressively expanding overseas primarily through acquisitions, last year bought 51 per cent of Berri, Australia's largest fruit juice group, and early this year took over National Foods for A$1.9 billion.