Jollibee imports rice to support its requirements

(Updated 2:31 PM) MANILA, Philippines - Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the Philippines’ largest operator of fastfood restaurants, has participated in a government auction to import rice. Together with 24 other companies—three of which are based in Cebu—the fastfood giant made a bid to import grains totaling 21,560 metric tons (MTs). Conrado Ibanez, NFA assistant administrator, said the agency will announce the results of the auction “within five days". Offering P2.70 a kilo for 600 MTs of rice it plans to bring in, Jollibee’s participation in the auction will not only cover its own requirements but also protect it from further increases in prices. Once it secures government permission to import the grain, the fastfood giant will bring in rice from Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter. Pangasinan-based City Supermarket was the highest bidder in Friday morning’s auction, offering to pay the National Food Authority (NFA) P3 a kilo for rice imports worth 600 MTs. Farmers’ group Sta. Rosa Farm Corp. filed the second-highest bid, offering to pay P2.88 per kilo for the 200 MTs it sought to import. Jollibee came in third, followed by LM Cereal Corp., which plans to import 2,500 MTs at a service fee of P2.50 a kilo. Fresh N’ Famous Foods, another JFC unit which serves Chinese fast food restaurant Chowking and pastry shop Delifrance, also participated in the exercise with a bid of P2.25 for imports worth 300 MTs. Besides Jollibee, Chowking and Delifrance, JFC also operates Greenwich and Manong Pepe in the Philippines. As of end-2007, JFC has a total of 1,635 stores worldwide. Ibañez said the agency will allow the private sector to import a maximum of 163,000 metric tons of rice this year. He added that companies importing rice will be charged a “service fee" since these entities will be using the facility of the NFA. The NFA, in turn, will shoulder the tariff cost to lower the cost of rice importation for the private sector. “This move, besides giving the private sector an easier time to procure their rice requirement, will also lessen the losses of the government," he said. - GMANews.TV