October 26,2015
Cargill plans poultry facility in Philippines
Commodities trader Cargillsaid it plans to put up a poultry production facility in the Philippinesto help meet local demand during holiday seasons including Christmas and New Year when supplies usually fall short.
Cargill chairman for the Asia Pacific Alan Willits told a press briefing in Manila late last week that there was more room for animal business in the Philippines and "we''re looking at getting into new things like investing in poultry".
Willits did not state any timetable for the planned investment, only saying that it would be "in the near future".
The new investment is seen to complement Cargill''s animal nutrition business in the Philippines where it operates four animal feed mills in Pangasinan, Bulacan and Misamis Oriental provinces.
Inadequate supply
Cargill, also a major food producer, noted that the Philippines usually experiences inadequate supply during holidays and the school period.
"I would think that with the growth in the Philippines and the size of the population, there''s plenty of opportunity to serve the domestic market. That''s our initial intent, we can''t exclude the potential of exports at some point. I could see that the initial investment is worth as the market is growing," said Willits.
Willits added that Cargill doesn''t intend to compete with producers catering to wet markets and instead would cater to institutional customers such as giant fast-food chains Jollibee, McDonald''s and KFC.
Cargill established its first office in Asia in the Philippines in 1948 as an exporter of coconut products for its vegetable oil business in the US.
At present, it has a copra crushing plant in General Santos City on Mindanao for processing crude coconut oil.