The food-processing industry is concerned about the unstable supply of local agricultural products despite Philippine government’s various programs and initiatives to help farmers, according to a purchasing executive.
Ferdinand Pio, corporate purchasing manager at KLT Fruits Inc., in an update on trends and market opportunities in the fruit industry presented at a recent agri-business forum in Calamba, Laguna, said statistics show a decreasing supply of local agri produce.
The decline can be attributed to the fall in the number of growers and is a troubling development for the country’s food-processing industry as it depends on the farming sector, Pio added.
Citing the situation of KLT Fruits, a fruit-processing company that processes tropical fruit purees, Pio said the unstable and unreliable supply in the Philippines affects their operations and challenges their capability to meet their commitments to their overseas customers.
He said the company is losing farmers who can supply their product requirements because these growers are getting old and retiring, and their children do not want to go into farming, which, by itself, presents a different set of challenges.
Moreover, the company is encountering strong competition from Vietnam, from where it also imports because “ang lakas mag-supply ng prutas ng Vietnam ngayon [Vietnam now has a strong supply of fruits] and wala nang makuhang supply dito [we can no longer source the needed supply here].”
Pio said KLT Fruits currently needs bulk suppliers of saba (plantain), mango, jackfruit, guava, calamansi, passion fruit and many more. To address the local shortage, Pio suggests that farmers learn to market their products.
“You don’t just plant without someone to buy your product,” he said. More important, he encourages them to form cooperatives and associations.
“Don’t farm alone,” he advises farmers, adding that if farmers form themselves into groups “magiging mas malakas kayo [you will become stronger].”
He explained: “’Pag mag-isa kang farmer at hindi ka rin marunong mag-market ng produkto mo, maghihintay ka na lang ng trader. Talagang hindi ka magsu-survive. [If you are a solo farmer and you don’t know how to market your products, you will just be waiting for the trader. You won’t survive].”
He added that consolidation will provide farmers with advantages. For instance, it will be easier for food processors to transact with them. Pio said food-processing firms sometime find it hard to deal with farmers individually.
This, he said, is partly due to the farmer’s financial limitations. “Hindi niya kayang gastusan ang pag-deliver from the farm going to the plant at hindi maramihan (Some farmers do not have the financial capacity to deliver from the farm to the plant nor the capacity to provide in bulk).” If the farmers have a cooperative, “kakausapin naming yung namumuno sa kooperatiba o asosasyon at sila ang mag-de-deliver sa amin at dun kami sa kanya magbabayad (we can talk to the leaders of the cooperative or association and they will deliver to us and we will pay them).”
He also said setting up a buying station where farmers and buyers can meet and negotiate is also a good idea.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes