Plant more mangoes–Mango King
DAVAO CITY- Agri-entrepreneur Justin Uy, more known as the “Mango King” urged farmers to plant more mangoes.
Speaking at the first forum of the Mentor Me Program Launch held Friday at Marco Polo Davao Hotel, Uy said there is a great demand for Philippine mangoes as it is one of the best tasting mangoes in the world.
He said the country is only top six mango producer in the world and is overtaken by China which is now at number 2. China, according to him, was not known for producing mangoes in the past, now it is one of the top mango-producing countries.
Uy established Profood International Corporation, the largest consumer of fresh mango produce in the country.
Profood exports to 52 countries including the United States and Canada. Uy said there is a supply shortfall in the country, with demand spiking worldwide.
The company owns a mango processing plant in Davao City. Located in Toril district, it is the second largest mango processing plant in the company.
Uy is in Davao City to participate in the Mentor Me Program, a project of Go Negosyo and the Department of Trade and Industry that aims to help support MSMEs (micro, small medium enterprises) throug mentoring of business owners and practitioners.
A self-made successful entrepreneur, Uy first engaged in the business of jewelry, poultry and mushroom growing until he found a niche in the mango business.
Uy said he noticed that mangoes were not being harvested because of very low prices. When he first ventured into the business in the 1970s a kilo of mangoes was only 50 centavos. Seeing potentials in the then dried mango cottage industry he borrowed P20,000 from friends and relatives at an interest rate of 4% a month.
He recalled venturing into the once violence-ridden Davao City in the early 1980s to look for mangoes in Bankerohan public market and found the supply scarce. He remembered telling farmers to start planting mangoes as it would be a valued agricultural product.
From less than a peso a kilo in the early 1980s, mangoes are now priced at around P30-P35 a kilo. Mindanao is the second largest mango-producer in the country after Luzon.