Faced with the possibility of a flat growth this year, stakeholders in the local food industry are gearing up for both challenges and opportunities that an increasingly competitive regional market presents amid the economic integration of member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“We are now benchmarking ourselves with Asean and looking at how we can best perform vis-a-vis our regional neighbors. We have to stop benchmarking our performance with our previous local data but with Asean data,” said Roberto Amores, president of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (Philfoodex) Inc.
Philfoodex is organizing the 14th Philippine Food Expo, a three-day event from April 20 to 22 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, which will gather 300 leading firms involved in the food industry, such as manufacture, export, equipment, and packaging, among others.
The expo, which is recognized as the country’s “only all-Filipino food show,” has the theme “Emerging Trends in Food Trade” this year, precisely in recognition of the challenges that come with changes in consumption and demand.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the country’s agricultural exports declined by 3.6 percent to $4.19 billion from $4.35 billion in the same period in 2016. The share of agricultural exports to the country’s total exports likewise fell to 8.4 percent from 10.3 percent in 2016.
“We don’t expect any substantial growth this year. We expect growth to plateau. Our current volume of agricultural exports is still way below our Asean neighbors,” Amores said.
He, however, expects the industry to bounce back next year. “Our expectation is that we will register growth in 2019 because of the interventions that have been introduced. Perhaps we will hit a 3 percent growth increase,” he added.
Key interventions, Amores said, include technological advancements both in addressing pests and diseases as well as in mechanizing the farming processes.
“Manual farming will soon become a thing of the past. Our concern is how to bring back millennials to our farms. The average age of our farmers today is 62 years old. We can only encourage our millennials to go back to farming with mechanization,” he said.
During the three-day expo, Philfoodex has lined up several seminars to help companies adapt to market demands and become more competitive. The topics include agribusiness support for investments promotion in regional expositions, franchising opportunities, application of the TRAIN Law to the food industry, trends and business opportunities in the Asean food and beverage industry, threats to food business, and financial assistance for SMEs, among others.
Co-organized by the Philippine Exporters Federation (Philexport), the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Export Marketing Bureau, the expo will also include its first ever Chocolate, Coffee and Tea Festival. There will also be a culinary showdown for college students and faculty, and a barista challenge.
“We are seeing some aggressive moves in the agri-business sector. There are burning issues concerning competitiveness, the availability of raw materials, improving technologies and adapting innovations,” Amores said.
“We hope to address these issues through the Philippine Food Expo, and see how the government and the private sector can work hand-in-hand in helping the industry grow,” he concluded.
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