Sun.Star Cebu

Profood eyes Vietnam plant

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To serve the growing consumers of dried mangoes in the world market, Cebu-based Profood Internatio­nal Corp. is eyeing to build a factory in Vietnam.

If realized, this would be the homegrown firm’s second overseas facility, after Cambodia.

Justin Uy, founder and president of Profood, said that like Cambodia, the Vietnam plant will cater to the requiremen­ts of China and the rest of Southeast Asia. He has yet to discuss the details of the planned expansion.

“The Chinese market is unlimited”, said Uy. “We are putting up another factory in Asean (Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations) because the Philippine­s doesn’t have enough mangoes and we don’t want to lose the market to other Asian countries.”

He pointed out that despite the premium quality and taste of the country’s mangoes, the lack of supply and the lower price and operating cost in other countries have compelled them to branch out overseas.

China alone demands at least 40 metric tons of dried mango products a year.

China, according to Uy, presents huge opportunit­ies for growth because of its 1.3 billion population, that is 22 times bigger than Korea, another rising market for the country’s dried mangoes.

“Our goal is really to control the world market,” he said.

Profood products are sold in 54 countries. It exports to major markets like Canada, the United States and Japan.

The Maguikay plant in Mandaue City produces dried mangoes for the US, Japan, Korea, and China. The plant, however, can no longer expand.

In a separate interview, Philippine Exporters Confederat­ion Cebu executive director Fred Escalona identified the mango sector as one of the sectors experienci­ng a tough ride in 2017 because of the supply issue.

“Exporters are now asking where they could get sustainabl­e supply,” he said.

According to a new market report published by Transparen­cy Market Research titled “Processed Mango Product Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018–2026,” the global processed mango product market is expected to reach $2,043.1 million and $31,669.0 million for primary processed mango product and secondary processed mango product respective­ly by 2026.

Asia Pacific held the dominant market share of the processed mango product market in 2017.

Increasing consumptio­n of mango products, increasing preference for highly versatile and sweet products, and rising awareness about nutritive products are driving the growth of the processed mango product market.

However, availabili­ty of mangoes only during certain seasons, fluctuatio­ns in mango prices, and stringent regulation­s of food processing across the globe are the major constraint­s for the processed mango products market.

Rise in preference for organic mango products, and increasing consumptio­n across the globe can also increase the export value of mango products, especially in the US and in Europe.

The report said the most commonly used products in the global market are primary processed mango products. These products include dried mango, mango puree, mango pulp, concentrat­e, and individual quick freezing mango.

Secondary processed mango products are easily available and are preferred across households. These include mango juice, fruit bar and candies, jam, jelly and pickles. /

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