PHL one of biggest importers of US food products, with sales to increase — USDA

The US expects food and beverage exports to the Philippines to grow by 11.7 percent to $850 million, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement. Based on a recent report by the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), the Philippines was the biggest market for American food and drinks in Southeast Asia in 2011, with sales reaching 27 percent on year to $761 million. "Sales are up 16 percent from January to May 2012 and are expected to reach $850 million by year-end. The Philippines continues to be the largest F&B market in Southeast Asia and one of the fastest-growing markets in the world for its high-value, job-generating sector," the report said. The report projected that export sales will double within three years, way ahead of the five-year target of the White House National Export Initiative. Another contributing factor is the expected recovery of US meat sales due to an agreement in March that sought the removal of most of the trade barriers to meat trade. However, the volume of red meats exports to the Philippines dropped by 26 percent on year to 29,204 metric tons (MT) in 2011 due to restrictive regulations on the sale of frozen meats in wet markets as well as the increase in the price of US pork. US exports of dairy and cheese products, processed fruits and  vegetables, fresh fruits and vegetables, wine and beer, and snack foods will also remain robust as well as "organic," "healthy," and "convenience" foods. The Philippines was ranked the 12th largest export market in the world in 2011, "filling over 19,000 container trucks and providing support to the roughly 1.8 million American food processing jobs." Even when compared with the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries, the Philippines ranked third, following China and Russia. The Philippine market for US food and beverages is over 50 percent larger than that of India with less than a tenth of its population. In 2011, the top US food and beverage exports to the country were dairy ($281 million), red meats ($132 million), poultry meats ($70 million), snack food ($65 million), and processed fruits and vegetables ($62 million). The Philippines is the top market for US dairy and cheese products in Southeast Asia and fourth in the world; the second export market for US poultry in Southeast Asia; and also the second largest market for American wine and beer in Southeast Asia. The figures used for the GAIN report were collated from statistics gathered by US Customs. — BM, GMA News