Agriculture.ph Blog

Banana exporter to expand operations

A MINDANAO-based banana producer is aiming to expand operations this year to cater to the increasing demand for the high-value crop abroad, the company chief said.

“As we generate more cash, we can have additional planting,” Senen C. Bacani, president and chairman of La Frutera, Inc., said in an interview.

The fruit exporter might increase its 1,000-hectare plantation by 50 to 100 hectares in the second half of the year, added Mr. Bacani, who was Agriculture secretary during the Aquino administration.

The Maguindanao-based La Frutera, which was established in 1997, exports about 60% of its more than five million boxes of cavendish banana output to Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran and the remaining produce to neighboring Asian countries like Japan, Korea and China.

“We export everything that we produce,” he said, adding that La Frutera records $14 million to $15 million in sales every year.

With the additional plantations, the company might increase revenues by a tenth, Mr. Bacani said.

The Philippines, which accounts for almost a fifth of world banana exports, increased exports of banana and banana preparations like banana leaves and banana chips by 6.7% to 537,095 metric tons (MT) worth $101.267 million, without freight, in the first quarter. During the same period last year, exports reached 503,198 MT, worth $93.414 million, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed.

Banana output, which accounts for 4.36% of total agriculture production, increased by 5.04% to 2.024 million MT, valued at P3.683 billion in the first quarter.

There are about 50,000 hectares of banana plantations in the country.

La Frutera employs more than 1,800 workers. — Neil Jerome C. Morales

Source: www.bworldonline.com