CM & Sons Food Products, Inc. was established as a family enterprise in 1995 in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. Its products are marketed under the trade name “Merci,” a French word meaning “thank you.” Though the trade name is undergoing a rebranding process from Merci to Merzci, the company still believes that it will remain competitive in the food market.

Merzci started as a small bakery, supplying breads to a single store at the Libertad Market. Eventually, its popularity became undeniable due to a growing satisfied customer pool. With its high quality breads at affordable prices, combined with aggressive marketing strategies and the ingenuity of youth, it did not take long for the company to establish its own branches around the city and supply products to satellite dealers all over the province.

Merzci also evolved into a fast food restaurant serving scrumptious and affordable snacks and short-order meals for people on the go.

Complementing its food line, it diversified its business interests in 2003 with the introduction of its bottled purified water brands distributed around Negros Island, namely MERCI PURIFIED DRINKING WATER and VITALIFE PURIFIED DRINKING WATER. Despite competition from national brands, the two brands successfully sliced a big share in the province’s purified water market in only a few months’ time and up to present. The water brand is also expected to follow suit in the rebranding of its trade name.

The success of CM & Sons Food Products, Inc. may very well be attributed to its ability to cope with the emergence of new markets and opportunities.

In January 2005, CM & Sons launched its newest line — MERCI PASALUBONG TREATS, to cater to the growing tourist and balikbayan crowd that regularly come to the province. The pasalubong treats have gained a massive “suki” consumer crowd that prompted the company to open its first pasalubong center in Singcang, Bacolod City in September 2005. This branch is only about five minutes away from the old Bacolod Airport which, at that time, gained a wide acceptance among the locals and travelers alike. Seven months later, a second pasalubong center emerged in Mandalagan in April 2006, which now caters mainly to customers leaving the city on the way to the new airport or to travelers going north of the island. In 2008, when the New Bacolod-Silay Airport was opened to the public, a new branch conveniently located at the Departure Area was opened for its customers who are always on the go. And, most recently last February of 2013, BREDCO Branch was established to cater to Iloilo-Panay travelers making it a point that, indeed, Merzci will always be a part of a traveler’s Bacolod experience.

For nearly two decades, the company has produced quality products from breads to pastries to visayan delicacies to short order meals and even water. Products are made available in the different branches and dealers in the Negros Island and Iloilo and even reaching as far as Tuguegarao City in the North, Zamboanga City, Manila, Cebu, and Panay. Some products are also exported by distributors to Canada, the USA, and other parts of the world.

Believing in the power of advertising and promotions, the company employs different media such as television, radio, print, and even social media to reach its varied target markets. Recently, CM & Sons has also been employing the advertising mileage of special events such as concerts, tourism and sports events, and other special events to gain exposure to new markets.

CM & Sons continues to keep its loyal clientele by strictly maintaining high quality in all its products. Operations are strictly controlled at the production site in Hervias Village II, Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City. As of 2014, the company is manned by an almost 1,000-strong workforce, with each department effectively working together to produce and maintain quality products for its clientele.