FILIPINOS are turning to local supply as they go back to basics while locked in home quarantine.
Food producers and manufacturers are stepping up to the plate.
Agricultural lobby group, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), assured ample supply of local pork and poultry products for at least five months contrary to the recent leaked warning issued by canned meat processors to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
SINAG said the latest inventory of frozen pork in accredited cold storages remains high at 43, 398 metric tons (MT) while poultry products are at 56,521 MT.
”Hog and poultry farms are filled with supply… Likewise, cold storages are also filled all over the country and it just counts only the accredited ones,” said Rosendo So, SINAG chairman.
In a statement, So said industry players should realize by now that food self-sufficiency is the only way to feed the country.
“We must rely on our own capacity and capability to put food in our dining tables… Enough of this profit-driven penchance of relying on the vulnerable global market for the country’s food needs. Global food supply is unsafe, unreliable, erratic and expensive,” So added.
The Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) also assured the country has enough inventory of flour which continues to be delivered to bakeries, food manufacturers, noodle makers, and flour dealers and retailers all over Luzon.
This ensures the availability of bread and noodles to Filipino households.
Ricardo Pinca, PAFMIL executive director, said while there were initial difficulties on product movement due to long queues of delivery trucks at various checkpoints, the situation has so far eased up.
“The Philippines has 22 flour mills scattered all over the country producing 83 million bags of flour annually, that’s roughly 6.9 million bags of flour monthly. Some 70 percent of production is hard flour which is used to produce pandesal, loaf bread and other bakery products, while 30 percent goes to the pastry, noodle and cake market,” Pinca said.
San Miguel Corp. said it can produce as much as 1.96 million kg of fresh poultry, beef and pork meats daily; 524,000 kg of canned meat, nuggets and hotdogs; and 2.11 million kg of flour and other baked goods daily.
“Many other companies also continue to make food that is why we are confident that together, we can overcome our present challenges,” San Miguel said in a statement
Century Pacific Food Inc. said it has an adequate supply of products to meet the current heightened demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our factories are continually operating with enough capacity despite the use of a skeletal workforce. Thus, we currently have sufficient stock of products in our warehouse so there is no need to worry that supply might run out,” it said.
