USDA sees PHL buying more F&B, revises 2012 estimates to $880M

The United States expects to ship $880-million worth of food and beverage to the Philippines this year as demand picks up toward the holidays in December, the US Department of Agriculture noted in a report.   The estimate is up by 15.6 percent from $761 million in 2011, USDA said, citing the 2012 figures were revised from an earlier estimate of $850 million last March.   In its latest Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), the USDA said American food and beverage (F&B) exports to the Philippines in the first semester went up by 16 percent to $336.22 million year-on-year, making the Philippines the largest market for American F&B in Southeast Asia.   "The robust growth is expected to continue as importers stock-up for the year-end holidays,” according to the GAIN report.   “Export sales of food and beverage products are expected to reach a record $880 million by the end of the year, more than double 2009 levels," it added.   The volume of F&B exports to the Philippines is expected to reach 21,000 container trucks, supporting 1.8 million jobs in the US food processing industry, according to the report.   Dairy products, steaks, poultry meat, processed fruits and vegetables, and snack items were the top selling products shipped to the Philippines during the first half of the year, according to GAIN, citing breakfast cereals and fruit and vegetable juices were the largest in terms of shipment volume.   F&B exports to the Philippines have "exploded" by more than 500 percent in 2003 to the first half of 2012, the USDA noted.   For 2013, the USDA sees demand for Made in USA F&B growing more because of Filipinos’ penchant to spend on food and the continued growth of the Philippine economy.   The GAIN report noted food categories like gourmet, convenience, healthy, and natural hold the potential for growth next year, as well as sustained demand by Filipino consumers for breakfast cereals, wines, beers and dairy products. — VS, GMA News