Singapore fresh meat shipment delayed

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD General Santos City — The scheduled departure of the country’s first shipment of premium fresh frozen pork to Singapore last month failed to proceed, pending the validation of the condition of processing plants and piggeries in Mindanao, a top company executive said on Monday. Stephen Castillo, general manager of Matutum Meat Packing Corp. based in nearby Polomolok, South Cotabato, said in an interview that his company is still waiting for the arrival of Singaporean experts who will follow-up on the status of the swine industry in the region. Matutum Meat is one of two Mindanao pork meat-processing firms tapped by the Department of Agriculture early this year to embark on the country’s first foreign shipment of cut pork parts. The other is Davao City-based Nenita Quality Foods Corp. of the Antonio Floirendo group. "Singapore has yet to conduct a final audit on the condition of swine farms and processing plants. We have not been notified when they would come. Maybe they still have many schedules in other parts of the world," Mr. Castillo said. "They would not issue [export] certification unless they will again visit the area." Singaporean experts arrived in Mindanao last year to initially assess the condition of the swine industry in the area. Matutum Meat’s production on a weekly basis now averages 1,500 to 2,000 pigs, as more commercial farms in the city and South Cotabato province are buying from the firm, Mr. Castillo said. In two to three years, he projected the firm to process 5,000 head per week. Matutum Meat, a sister company of Cebu-based Sunpride Foods, Inc., is a fully Filipino-owned company that has invested around P200 million in its modern slaughterhouse and meat processing facilities. Mr. Castillo said his firm will buy both backyard-grown pigs and those raised by commercial operators since the demand for fresh pork meat both at home and abroad is huge. Last February, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said around 200 metric tons of fresh frozen cut-up pork parts were slated to be shipped by Matutum Meat and Nenita to Singapore from Mindanao, which has been declared by the Office International des Epizooties, or World Organization for Animal Health, as free from foot-and-mouth disease. Mr. Castillo said penetrating Singapore’s market would boost the Philippines’ swine industry since Singapore’s standards serve as the barometer for other Southeast Asian economies. "We can then pry open the other foreign markets in the region if we can make it in Singapore. We are confident we can hurdle the standards of Singapore," he said. Because the ideal quality meat for export is produced by commercial growers, Mr. Castillo advised backyard growers to adjust feeding and other nutrition practices. Backyard growers account for bulk of the swine supply in the country. A 2006 Philippine swine industry report showed that commercial farms accounted for just 27% of the total swine stock in the country, while backyard farms accounted for 73% of total swine inventory of 13.5 million head from 2005 to 2006. Matutum Meat has a capacity of processing 240 pigs an hour. — Romer S. Sarmiento/BusinessWorld