Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 8909

Villar’s Vista Land sets P25-B capex

VISTA LAND & LIFESCAPES, Inc. (VLL) is allocating P25 billion for capital expenditures (capex) this year to continue supporting construction and land banking plans.

In a statement over the weekend, the Villar-led property developer said it was revisiting its pipeline of projects for 2020 in light of changing consumer behavior due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Its P25-billion capex this year is lower than its 2019 capex of P38.29 billion and 2018 capex of P45.05 billion. About 90% of the allocation is intended for construction and land development, while 10% is for land acquisition and payment of land payables.

“We are revisiting our planned project launches as well as the expansion program of our leasing business for the rest of the year. And as previously mentioned, we have the capacity to fast track construction if we deem it necessary,” VLL Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. was quoted as saying.

The company’s plan is to continue building integrated urban development that combine retail, office and residential projects along with healthcare and leisure components.

It said it draws optimism from its residential business, which has been recording improving sales to about 70% of pre-pandemic levels since June. The growth is attributed to its investment in digital platforms, which allows buyers to connect with VLL online.

“We are hoping that these encouraging signs in our residential business will continue,” VLL President and CEO Manuel Paolo A. Villar said in the statement.

“With the growing importance of staying at home, we are also seeing an increased preference for our housing products especially in the provincial areas. We are now taking advantage of Vista Land’s geographic reach, being present in 147 cities and municipalities across the country,” he added.

VLL’s profits fell 8% to P2.34 billion in the first quarter due to delayed project completions. The pandemic-related lockdown pulled down its revenues by 3% to P9.93 billion with the suspension of construction activities.

Shares in VLL at the stock exchange ended Thursday’s session at P3.12 apiece, up six centavos or 1.96% from a day ago. — Denise A. Valdez

Meralco: Refund requests ‘low’

THERE have not been many customers who asked for refund of their quarantine arrears, according to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

The twin June bills — one for the installment and the other for the monthly bill — caused an apparent confusion to consumers who might be led to fully settle their arrears since mid-March.

Upon prodding by legislators in last month’s Senate energy hearing, the utility giant said it would set up a refund scheme for those who have fully paid their bills incurred during the lockdown months but who wish to pay them in portions.

“The refund option is open to customers. We have seen though that in our business centers the amount of take-up for refund has been low,” said Victor S. Genuino, Meralco’s head of customer retail services and corporate communications.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in its latest advisory ordered all power distributors, among others, to put up a refund scheme for those who wish to pay their lockdown arrears in four to six installments.

To recall, the regulator authorized the installment setup in May as a form of aid to consumers whose livelihoods are affected by the pandemic-induced quarantine policies.

Explaining the low request for refunds, Mr. Genuino said: “I think people are realizing that once these payments have been made already and they have other current bills to pay for, they decide to just keep their payments in already.”

The utility’s customers can still request a refund by presenting valid identification and proof of billing.

Meanwhile, the listed company in July also sent out personalized letters explaining to customers how their bills were computed.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Adam J. Ang

L’Oreal’s PHL sustainability efforts include labeling, bio-based packaging

AFTER announcing in June its efforts to be green and sustainable, French personal care giant L’Oreal has outlined its sustainability efforts in the Philippines, including environment and social impact labeling, and a goal to have recycled or bio-based packaging for its products.

It also gave an update regarding the removal of “whitening” labels on its packaging.

“L’Oréal has put sustainability as a fundamental priority. Our commitments towards 2030 mark the beginning of a more radical transformation and embody our view as to what a company’s vision, purpose and responsibilities should be, to meet the challenges facing the world,” said Supriya Singh, country managing director of L’Oréal Philippines, in a statement.

L’Oreal Philippines announced that their products — starting with Garnier hair care products — will sport environmental and social impact labeling which will include a product’s carbon footprint and how it affects the environment. Garnier will have this labeling this year with other brands will follow suit, according to the release.

L’Oreal helms brands such as Kiehl’s, Maybelline New York, Kerastase, among many others.

Garnier, which has become the poster girl for L’Oreal Sustainability because its products claim to “contain more than 90% natural origin ingredients, certified organic product ranges, and vegan formulas,” will also be launching the “green parcel” initiative. The green parcel initiative means that Garnier will shift to recycled or bio-based packaging for its product deliveries.

During a digital conference on July 23, Isabel Falco, marketing director of Garnier and L’Oreal Paris Philippines, said that they are currently talking with their online commerce partners about the packaging. The end goal is to eliminate use of “virgin plastics” (new plastic) by 2025.

“Garnier aims to go further and commit to Green Beauty, an end-to-end approach to sustainability that is set to transform the brand, helping to reduce their environmental impact at every stage of its value chain. We are fuelled by the vision to constantly innovate and reinvent the consumer experience and to empower every consumer to make more informed, sustainable choices,” Ms. Falco said in the release.

WHITENING WORDS
Last month, following weeks of anti-racism protests around the world, L’Oreal together with other giants in the industry — Unilever and Johnson & Johnson — announced that they will stop using the words “whitening,” “lightening,” or “fair” on their products after Unilever, in particular, came under fire for its “Fair & Lovely” brand (sold in India and other Asian countries). (Read more: https://www.bworldonline.com/major-beauty-brands-drop-whitening-labels-products/ and https://www.bworldonline.com/loreal-goes-green/)

But while L’Oreal announced that they will be dropping such labels, they will not be discontinuing the lines because these products are used for “ultraviolet protection, uneven skin tone, or spot reduction,” and not “skin-bleaching,” Ms. Singh said during the digital conference, before adding that L’Oreal “never had skin-based bleaching products in our portfolio.”

“But we now realize the impact that this had on consumers and we want to act now. And therefore, we are taking action now to remove those words from our branding and our marketing,” she said.

They will also not be dropping these products because “we know we need it,” explaining that Filipinos are constantly exposed to the sun.

“So we will not be removing those products and removing those ingredients. What we will be doing is changing the way that we brand them and market them so they are actually more pinpointed on what these products do versus using this umbrella of ‘whitening’ which is not specific to the product ingredients,” she explained. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Vaya con Vios

 

Since 2007, almost 300,000 units of the country’s best-selling passenger car have been made locally

ALMOST any Filipino urban dweller will recognize the iconic Toyota Vios. That’s how popular this subcompact car is, and how important it has become in our country. Important enough, it turns out, to give us the privilege of being the first country to unveil its latest rendition.

Yes, the 2020 version of this 17-year local best-seller was first launched here in the Philippines before anywhere else — via a virtual event that was Toyota Motor Philippines’ (TMP’s) second-ever online car launch held in the country (the first was for the Wigo).

“Known for reliability, durability, efficiency and affordability since 2003, the Vios has evolved to fit the Filipinos’ ever-changing needs and has since been the country’s best-selling sedan,” remarked TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto during the online press reveal. “You can count on TMP to stay true to our promise of making the world’s best Vios, and in the process, helping the economy, and providing livelihood to thousands of Filipino families,” he added.

The biggest changes that appear in the 2020 Toyota Vios are aesthetic: A generally more aggressive look, thanks to its wider bumper, glossy-black front grille, and low and wide stance; three-tier LED headlamps and daytime running lights (for G variants); LED foglamps (for G, E and XLE variants); and 16-inch alloy wheels (for G variants).

As before, all variants come with SRS air bags. In fact, among the third-generation Vios’ strongest new assets are its class-leading safety features, which highlight seven SRS air bags — strategically positioned for the driver, passenger, front side, curtain and driver knee — across certain variants (while other customers may opt for variants with three SRS air bags). The Vios also includes some typically higher-class features, such as Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Hill-Start Assist Control, which were previously not offered in the older-generation models.

Inside the cabin is a classy-looking dashboard that is dominantly black, and adding to the car’s more premium feel is its Push Start ignition and Smart Entry System, which make entering and starting the car a breeze. Optitron meter gauges in the driver’s instrument panel give subtle, classy cues; and automatic air-conditioning controls come packaged as part of the extra bells and whistles attached to the top-of-the-line variant.

The Vios also offers the pleasure of paddle shifters, as well as Eco and Sport driving modes, activated via push-button.

The Vios was first introduced in the Philippine market way back in 2003; and during its first few years cars came in as CBUs (completely built units) imported from Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Thailand. In 2007, TMP made the brilliant call to begin manufacturing the second-generation Vios locally in its Santa Rosa, Laguna plant. Today, per Toyota’s global sales data, the Philippines has become the number-one-volume market of the Vios in all of Southeast Asia. From 2007 to June 2020, 296,994 units of the nameplate have been produced locally. Just think about that!

A well-loved, tried-and-tested nameplate, the Vios sold close to 320,000 units in the Philippines across three generations of the model. And in 2019, the Vios — the country’s best-selling passenger vehicle — ended the year with a whopping 38.6% market share.

Moreover, the Vios is tried and tested not only on regular roads but also on the racetrack, via the long-running Vios one-make-race series, the Vios Cup, now known as the Vios Racing Festival, scheduled to return in 2021.

“Under the CARS program of the government, the Vios is our flagship. It helps support almost 55,000 lives throughout the Toyota network, 71 dealers, 56 local suppliers, and countless other business and trade partners,” shared TMP Chairman Alfred Ty in a statement.

And although this current pandemic we are facing has resulted in a significant decline in every car business’ yearly market projection, TMP expressed optimism because it had already seen signs of a very good pickup in sales beginning this end of July. In fact, they expressed that the sales pickup had been better than they expected.

The 2020 Toyota Vios is available in 12 variants — all covered by TMP’s nationwide One-Price Policy. Among the latest sales offers for the Vios are: free periodic maintenance package for up to 20,000 kms, a five-year warranty, and free one-year comprehensive insurance. The Vios will be available through Toyota’s recently introduced car-leasing program called Kinto One.

Megaworld closes $350-M offering

MEGAWORLD CORP. has completed the sale of $350-million senior unsecured notes, marking its first senior straight bond issuance in seven years.

The listed property developer said in a statement over the weekend it had closed its Regulation S offering in record time of 11 days. The notes have a seven-year tenor and a coupon rate of 4.125%, the lowest by a Philippine corporation for such notes.

The bonds will be listed at the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. on Monday.

“This issuance puts Megaworld in a good position to benefit from the eventual recovery of the Philippine economy. In spite of the pandemic, demand for real estate offerings has remained strong,” Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin L. Tan said in the statement.

When it mandated banks to arrange the offering on July 22, Megaworld said the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, namely funding capital expenditures (capex), land banking and loan refinancing.

“[W]e foresee that business process outsourcing companies may need more office spaces because of physical distancing requirements. This infusion of funds will support our investment pipeline and future land banking initiatives,” Mr. Tan added.

Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. acted as joint global coordinators, and with Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the offering.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was tapped as domestic lead manager.

Megaworld is allocating P36 billion for capex this year, down from the original P60 billion, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company’s attributable net income fell 9% to P3.5 billion in the first quarter as its revenues contracted 4% to P551 million.

Shares in Megaworld closed flat on Thursday at P3 each. — Denise A. Valdez

Excess rice tariffs to fund gov’t push for crop mix and insurance

RICE TARIFFS exceeding the P10-billion funding minimum for rice competitiveness will finance a crop diversification program and expanded crop insurance, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

Citing a report by the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the DA said that tariffs collected from imported rice in 2019 amounted to P12.1 billion.

The DA said that according to Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, of all rice tariffs collected yearly, P10 billion is automatically appropriated for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). RCEF will provide farmers machinery and equipment, certified inbred seed, credit and training.

“We have been encouraging rice farmers, particularly those tilling rainfed and marginal lands, to plant other crops that would generate bigger income, and more importantly instill in them the need to insure their crops,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.

“It is auspicious that we can pursue both initiatives using the excess tariff collections from imported rice, as provided under the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203,” Mr. Dar added.

Mr. Dar said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released P10 billion earlier this year to fund RCEF initiatives.

“On April 13, we requested DBM Secretary Wendel E. Avisado to release the excess rice tariff collections to fund our crop diversification program and expanded crop insurance program on rice,” Mr. Dar said.

In response to the recent BoC report, Mr. Dar said farmers’ groups have pushed for the immediate release of the excess rice tariff collections worth P2.1 billion.

From the P2.1 billion, the DA is requesting the DBM to allot P1 billion for the crop diversification and P1.1 billion for expanded crop insurance. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Treasury bill rates seen moving sideways

RATES OF THE Treasury bills (T-bills) to be auctioned off this week are expected to move sideways as the public offer for the retail bonds continues.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Monday is set to raise P20 billion via T-bills, broken down into P5 billion each from 91- and 182-day debt papers and P10 billion via the 364-day instruments.

On Tuesday, the BTr will offer P15 billion in 35-day T-bills

A bond trader said the rates of the T-bills will likely move sideways as the public offer for five-year retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) continues.

Another trader said the three-month and six-month papers may fetch average rates 5-10 basis points (bps) lower than those seen at the previous auction, while the yield on the one-year T-bills could slip by 5 bps.

“While trading volume is still low mainly because of the ongoing RTB, end-user demand remains for the T-bills,” the second trader said via Viber over the weekend.

Last week, the BTr made a full award of the P20-billion in T-bills it auctioned off out of the bids worth P64.398 billion as rates declined across-the-board.

Broken down, it raised the programmed P5 billion via 91-day papers, with bids reaching P21.791 billion. The average rate went down to 1.335% from the 1.454% logged in the previous auction on July 20.

It also borrowed P5 billion as planned via the 182-day T-bills out of P16.65 billion in bids. The average rate of the six-month papers likewise dipped to 1.605% from 1.625% previously.

For the 364-day securities, it raised P10 billion as planned from P25.957 billion in tenders at an average rate of 1.758%, down from 1.77% in the previous auction.

The second trader said the average rate of the 35-day papers may settle between 1.1% and 1.2%.

If realized, this will be lower than the 1.684% fetched at the June 30 auction, which was when the BTr last made a full P15-billion award of 35-day T-bills.

At the secondary market, rates of 35-, 91-, 182- and 364-day T-bills stood at 1.293%, 1.429%, 1.606% and 1.805%, respectively, based on Bloomberg Valuation Service (BVAL) Reference Rates posted on Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.’s website.

The three-week public offer for five-year RTBs is set to close on Friday, Aug. 7.

The amount raised so far has already exceeded the record P310 billion in three-year retail bonds sold in February.

Noel S. Reyes, first vice-president and chief investment officer of the Asset Management Group of Security Bank Corp. said the market will also monitor the release of economic data later this week, particularly reports on headline iwnflation deemed a “non-event, but GDP (gross domestic product) could be a big disappointment.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority will report July inflation data on Wednesday, Aug. 5 and second-quarter GDP on Thursday, Aug. 6.

The government has set a P170-billion borrowing program for August. It will offer P110 billion in T-bills weekly and P60 billion in Treasury bonds to be auctioned off fortnightly.

It borrows from local and foreign lenders to plug its budget deficit seen to hit 8.4-9% of gross domestic product this year. — B.M. Laforga

Banks’ soured loans likely to climb in 2nd half

NONPERFORMING LOANS (NPL) will likely climb in the next few months, with local banks’ strong capitalization and regulatory relief measures seen helping the industry weather the crisis, Moody’s Investors Service said.

“We will likely see the problem loans materialize in the second half of 2020 to early 2021 with the lifting of the credit grace period,” Joyce Ong, analyst at the Financial Institutions Group of Moody’s, said in a briefing on Thursday.

“We think that the credit costs will continue to increase as more problem loans materialize, especially after the end of the credit grace period,” she added.

Banks’ NPL ratio inched up to 2.43% in May from 2.31% in April. The BSP said despite the pandemic, bad loans will not be worse than the peak 17.6% NPL ratio seen in 2002 after the Asian financial crisis.

Ms. Ong said support measures from the government will help banks amid the crisis. Among these, she noted, is the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) move to reduce overnight reverse repurchase, lending, and deposit rates to record lows of 2.25%, 2.75%, and 1.75%, respectively.

Ms. Ong said the reduction in the reserve requirement ratios of big banks by 200 basis points (bps) to 12% and by 100 bps to three percent and two percent for thrift and rural lenders, respectively, will also support the sector.

She added that the BSP’s move to let banks tap their Basel III-mandated capital and liquidity buffers will also aid lenders during this time.

“We think that these measures will help to some extent but will not fully offset the downside risks of emerging markets from this coronavirus outbreak,” she said.

Amid expectations of slower loan growth ahead, Ms. Ong said big banks’ capitalization will remain stable over the next 12 to 18 months, noting the country’s banking system is among the strongest in terms of liquidity position.

The banking industry’s capital adequacy ratio was at 15.4% on a stand-alone basis and 16% on a consolidated basis at end-2019, beyond the 10% minimum required by the BSP.

Meanwhile, operating costs will dent banks’ profitability as they are more reliant on their physical networks, the Moody’s analyst said.

“Cost-to-income ratio for Philippine banks is the highest among ASEAN peers because they rely more heavily on physical operations,” she said.

Ms. Ong said while banks have been digitizing, it will take time for them to see returns, even as these will go “a long way” in helping them continue operations amid restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. — LWTN

Online seller sees shift from fashion and electronics to food

MANY BUSINESSES have gone online due to the pandemic because of the closures of physical stores, limitations on movement, and general fear of being sick. E-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee have introduced more and more sellers on their sites, and online second-hand marketplace Carousell is no different. What is different is a new category becoming popular in the quarantine: food.

“During the quarantine period alone, chats for items in the F&B (food and beverage) segment alone increased by 188%. Filipinos were both selling their homemade goods on Carousell and using it to source for their cooking and baking needs too, right down to the nitty gritty of equipment such as whisks, which more than doubled in demand,” a company release said.

This new category, introduced in April and a “joint initiative with Unilever Food Solutions,” currently has “over 13,000 [F&B merchants]” on the platform, according to a separate e-mail to BusinessWorld on July 24.

Some of the F&B merchants on Carousell sell cakes, pastries, and other baked goods, fresh produce, frozen goods, and ready-to-cook products, seafood platters, etc.

This trend, Carousell said, is not something that will go away even if the pandemic ends as “the post-pandemic world is already molding itself to be digitally driven.”

YOGA MATS AND DUMBBELLS AS QUARANTINE ESSENTIALS
Before the pandemic, Carousell’s most popular categories were fashion and electronics, but habits changed while in quarantine and people gravitated towards healthcare essentials (sanitizers and masks). As the months passed, even that changed with the company saying that in recent months, the biggest jumps in searches and transactions happened in the fitness category: yoga mats, dumbbells, and workout clothes.

Workout equipment in particular, saw 55,000 searches from February to June of this year compared to 6,000 searches from September 2019 to January 2020. There were also 122,000 searches made for swimming pools.

What’s notable about these numbers is that these are the same categories that Lazada reported to have been popular during quarantine. In June, Lazada reported that it sold 65,000 yoga mats, and 140,000 inflatable pools during the lockdown. (Read more: https://www.bworldonline.com/milk-tea-pearls-and-yoga-mats-fruits-and-meat-what-people-ordered-from-lazada-during-the-lockdown/)

Carousell reported that it saw a total 450,000 transactions from February to June. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Lexus PHL tops luxury car sales in May and June

By Kap Maceda Aguila

JAPAN-HEADQUARTERED premium car maker Lexus rallied in May and June to pace the luxury car segment in sales for the period. In an exclusive interview with “Velocity,” Lexus Manila President Raymond Rodriguez said that the lone dealership of the brand (on 8th Avenue and 34th Street in Bonifacio Global City) was able to sell 30 and 69 units in May and June, respectively.

From January to June 2020, sales totaled 197 units, landing Lexus in third place among premium car brands. “The best-sellers for us are our RX and NX models,” said Mr. Rodriguez. “However, in terms of numbers, the LM350 sold the most units at 70 — (accounting for) 35% of total sales in March. For sedans, it’s the ES350 with 18 units or nine percent of total.”

Broken down by category, Lexus H1 sales were comprised of SUVs (48%), vans (35%), and sedans (17%). “In January, we had little stock available since we sold well in December,” continued the executive, who added that the lockdown months in the first and second quarter proved challenging.

While the numbers appear to be trending upward, the executive remains cautious. “July may not be as good as June, as the strong sales in June mainly served the pending reservations of previous months,” he said.

“We would always want to be optimistic, but there is so much uncertainty. We’re unsure about recovery since we had two months of no sales. Also, we are now at negative growth year on year,” Mr. Rodriguez continued. “The most important thing is to narrow the gap. As of June, our growth is at -27%. The industry, if I’m not mistaken, is at around -50%, so we’re not doing that bad.”

Much depends on government quarantine level or controls. “By August, we should be able to tell. Quarantine controls directly impact not only new car sales but also our after sales,” concluded the auto executive.

Gov’t cashless transactions surge — PayMaya

THE VOLUME of e-payment transactions from the government has surged by 900% this year as more state agencies have adopted the cashless payment system, digital payments firm PayMaya Philippines, Inc. said.

“From June 2019 to June 2020, the volume of transactions processed by PayMaya from partner government agencies increased by 900%, indicating the government’s heightened efforts to encourage digital payments for fees and services by accepting debit, credit and e-Wallet payments through their online portals or branch offices,” PayMaya said in a statement e-mailed to reporters on July 31.

PayMaya said it had processed transactions for more than 50 government agencies in compliance with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s mandate to streamline state services.

Mr. Duterte had called for easier and more efficient transactions in government agencies in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year.

PayMaya Founder and Chief Executive Officer Orlando B. Vea noted state agencies responded to the President’s call by stepping up their efforts in digitizing their processes and enabling citizens to transact with them online.

“Because of this, many agencies have been able to continue offering relevant services despite the current crisis. As the President said, there should be no more lines in government offices in the new normal as more people transact online, and PayMaya is proud to support the government in achieving this goal,” he said.

PayMaya has signed partnership deals with Social Security System, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Home Development Mutual Fund, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Science and Technology, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of the Treasury, Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council, Professional Regulation Commission, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., among many others.

PayMaya is a subsidiary of Voyager Innovations, Inc., the digital innovations company of PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Banana chip maker eyes more workers for new ecozone mill

BW/LEAN S. DAVAL, JR.

DAVAO CITY — Banana chip maker Southern Harvest, Inc. (SHI) started operating its factory at the Anflo Industrial Estate in Panabo City last week, and is looking to employ an additional 130 employees as it slowly increases output.

The company, owned by the Davao-based Abella family, exports to Australia, Russia and China.

Ricardo F. Lagdameo, first vice-president of Damosa Land, Inc. which owns and manages the economic zone, said SHI is recruiting more workers for its production line, from peeling to packing.

SHI launched its operations with daily production of 10 tons and is targeting 75 tons once at full capacity.

Mr. Lagdameo said the opening of SHI boosts growers of the cardava variety, which is being promoted to small farmers as an alternative to the cavendish variety, which is exported fresh.

“Southern Harvest uses cardava bananas. We also have another locator, First Panabo Tropical Foods, which also uses cardava. This will entice more farmers to grow cardava since there are end-users who will process it then export it. Cardava is a good alternative to cavendish, especially for small growers,” he said in an online interview.

Aside from chips, cardava is also exported frozen. The Philippine Exporters Confederation in Davao Region said the variety’s biggest markets are China, Vietnam, the US and Germany.

The Anflo Industrial Estate, which is linked to the Davao International Container Terminal, currently has 15 locators, including Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, Phildutch Polymer, Inc., Davao Packaging Corp., Davao Zhenzhi Plastics Corp., CAMECO Realty Development, PMR Pallet Ltd. Co., Fermon Corp., Lane Holdings, Inc., and Packwell, Inc.

Mr. Lagdameo said another three locators — Connovate Philippines, PMR Pallet Ltd. Co., and FoamPack, Inc. — are expected to start operations within the quarter.

“(A)nd by December, our first Japanese locator will be finishing their facility,” he said.

The 64-hectare industrial estate is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. — Maya M. Padillo

1...8,9088,9098,910...13,904Page 8,909 of 13,904
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube