THE FOOD UNIT of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) plans to transfer its nationwide hog inventory and facilities to local raisers, amid high retail prices of pork.

In a statement on Monday, SMC’s San Miguel Foods is looking to shift the inventories of its Monterey brand to local hog raisers, and to allow them to supply the demand in their respective regions and improve biosecurity practices against African Swine Fever (ASF).

SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said the company wants to give local piggery businesses an opportunity to flourish amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and to entice other smallholder farmers to improve the hog industry.

“This is one way to stabilize the supply of affordable pork in the country. More importantly, it will help boost the local hog raising industry,” Mr. Ang said.

Further, the company said Monterey, which is one of the known industry participants, had been hampered by the ban implemented on the transport of pork and pork products due to the continuous spread of ASF.

As a result, San Miguel Foods, a division of SMC’s listed unit San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., decided to change its strategy, thus the plan to transfer its inventories to local players.

“They can run this business at a lower cost, making it more sustainable. This also opens the doors for more Filipinos to become agri-entrepreneurs,” Mr. Ang added.

On Monday, shares in SMC at the stock exchange fell 0.08% or ten centavos to close at P128.80 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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