The Philippines has a number of highly competitive manufacturing industries and suppliers, including nuts and dried fruit production.
Fifty-five percent of the country’s total dried fruit production is shipped to key markets such as the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and other Asia-Pacific countries.
The country’s dried fruit brand is known around the world. Since dried fruit is well received in many parts of the world, the Philippines is seeking substantial financial benefits if it extends its market scope and emphasizes the value of dried fruits produced in the country.
There are many drivers who point to the market demand for dried fruit exports. Recently, consumers of developed countries have turned to natural and organic products in order to meet their food needs.
This trend can be seen in early markets of countries. Compared to traditional potato chips or candy-made candy and sweets, dried fruit is often a more natural and therefore healthier alternative to a snack.
In addition, dried fruit is used mostly in sweet and bread industries. There is huge potential for export as well as strong demand for Philippine dried fruit in the domestic market.
The demand has been bolstered because of consumption of Filipino workers abroad, the increasing number of tourists traveling to the Philippines, and a large crowd with a single income.
As a result, since the Philippines has recently been included in the generalized system of preferences plus (EU GSP+), there is undiscovered market potential for European consumers of natural food, especially dried fruit, in the Philippines.
Production of dried fruits is one of the activities that can be listed in the priority list of IPP activities.
Commercial processing of agricultural products must include the use of raw or semi-processed domestic agricultural products, unless such entries are not available locally (NLP) or not sufficiently available. Domestic raw or semi-processed agricultural products (NIQ) are used.
The project can be registered if it uses raw or semi-processed agricultural products produced domestically or sufficiently (ISQ). This may also be true if the final product is for export or if the project is eligible for pioneering.
It has been said that the Philippine fruit is the best in the world and its processed derivatives such as dry strips, juice and other similar items as gifts are always welcome to the Filipinos who work in different parts of the world.
However, the dried fruit industry is in fierce competition, especially from Thailand, which is located in the Aseh region. Commercial practice of fruit processing, especially in relation to fruits, has been hindered by the development due to high production costs and a lack of supply.
According to Irvine Siao of the R&M Food Resources Division, Philippines producers have been forced to sell dried fruit as a high-price product because it costs to buy high-quality green fruit. This makes it difficult to compete with similar products from other countries as well.
In terms of the global market, there is a significant market that is ready to choose and awaits operation. The region still has plenty of room for growth, but price has become another matter due to the number of local and international participants, he said.
Siao used Thailand as an example, saying that while the quality of Thailand’s dried fruits products may be lower than those produced in the Philippines, the fact that these products are sold at a more affordable price and are more beautifully packaged makes them more attractive to buyers in the international market.
Not only in terms of packaging, but also in terms of price, the dried fruits produced in Thailand have an advantage over the fruits produced in the Philippines.
If you look at how fruit processors are in Thailand, all the plants that process dried fruit are in an export area less than 5 kilometers away from the farm. Because of that, your transportation and running costs are relatively low.”
This is in contrast to the way fruit processors in the Philippines use for their businesses. Sibu Province is known as the capital of the Philippines’ dried fruit, but because it is an island, there is a shortage of agricultural land that can be used to plant fruits to meet the demand for processing plants.
As a result, the province could not be known as the “capital of dried fruit in the Philippines”. Because of this, most major companies that process fruit are forced to obtain raw fruit from different farms across the country.
Thus, the harvest months are different in different parts of the country.
