Local feed miller and food manufacturer Pilmico Foods Corp. bagged the Sustainable Food and Nutrition Award at the first 2021 Europa Awards held virtually on June 10, 2021.
Europa Awards is an award-giving body organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines to recognize companies adhering to sustainable and best practices that aim to uplift the current state of the environment and improve on the gains achieved in the past.
Pilmico won its first Europa Award for its inclusive corn sourcing project that started in 2017.
“Its objective was to support and empower local corn farmers in Bukidnon transforming their livelihood to be more sustainable and profitable, for the long term. The idea was to provide market access to local corn farmers, where we directly source yellow corn from them and secure a portion of our feed milling business requirements,” said Pilmico vice president for brand, marketing and corporate social responsibility Joeben Gamatero.
“We did this in a way that reflected the hard work and effort put in by the farmers and their families to raise the corn and get them ready for delivery and use in our facilities,” said Gamatero.
Pilmico took a holistic approach by capacitating the beneficiaries through learning sessions to develop the local corn farmers’ financial entrepreneurial and managerial skills and competencies, all designed to improve the business acumen of corn farmers.
“After four years, I'm happy to note that the progress we have made with Project Silk in Bukidnon has led to the launch of similar initiatives in the Philippines. We're also working together with other stakeholder under the government's Pilipinas Kontra Gutom program to expand this effort by linking other consumers of local corn with more farmer cooperatives and associations,” Gamatero said.
Pilmico as stakeholder in the food group, would like to consider itself a reliable partner for growth with the different stakeholders. Project Silk is a clear example of the value and output created by partners collaborating with an aligned objective.
Pilmico is in partnership with Mantibugao Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Farmers Cooperative for Project Silk. More than the recognition, the company hopes that the successful rollout in Mindanao would serve as a model for more of partnerships across the country.
Gamatero said the award served to validate the direction Pilmico established as an organization.
“We put in a lot of effort over the past four years to get this to get to this point. However, we also recognize that we still have a long way to go to truly achieve the project's objective and full potential of creating a mutually sustainable and profitable partnership between stakeholders in this industry over the years to come,” he said.
Along with Pilmico, other winners of the first Europa Awards were Scandinavian Motors Corp., exclusive distributor of Volvo Cars in the Philippines for Smart and Safer Mobility Award; Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. for Clean and Efficient Energy Award; H&M Hennes & Mauritz Inc. for the Circular Economy Award; CreditBPO Tech Inc. for the Green and Inclusive Finance Solutions Award; and Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. for the Water Resource Management Winner Award.
ECCP executive director Florian Gottein said the awards committee received more than 70 entries beginning mid-March 2021 until the end of April 2021 and narrowed down the number of entries to 22 finalists.
“All of them are exceptional in their own right and we are fortunate enough to have the support of an equally exceptional panel of judges to help us review the merits of these entries throughout the process,” Gottein said.