April 30, 2011

San Miguel sees more yakitori chicken exports to Japan in 2011

San Miguel Foods Philippines Inc. (SMFI)-Poultry sees increased exports of yakitori chicken to Japan by more than 27 percent due to expected rise in its demand for food this year.

SMFI Poultry Vice President and general manager Rita Imelda Palabyab said demand for yakitori chicken will be quite strong because of the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed some food production facilities. She added that they intend to outpace their exports in 2010.

The company predicted that their 2010 shipments will go up by 20 percent year-on-year. It however refused to disclose the exact volume it shipped to Japan but Palabyab said exports went up by 27 percent last year.

Exports for January to March, said Palabyab, is already up by 20 percent in terms of volume. The SMFI-Poultry official noted that April shipments could increase by 30 percent, year-on-year.

Figures from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that the country's total yakitori exports to Japan reached 3.51 million kilograms in 2010. This is 63 percent higher than the 2.15 million kilos of yakitori chicken the country exported in 2009.

The BAI also revealed that as of April 15, shipments have already reached 878,084 kilos.

SMFI-Poultry is the country's top exporter of yakitori chicken to Japan. The BAI said the other local players include Reitoh Cold Storage Corp., Silangan Filtrade, and Win-Win Inc.

SMFI-Poultry is a division of San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. Its operations include broiler breeding, hatching, growing, and processing using company-owned and contracted facilities.

On its web site, SMFI noted that its flagship brands Magnolia Chicken and Purefoods Supermanok lead the poultry market, being the brands of choice among major food-service outlets as well as supermarkets and wet markets.

Aside from yakitori chicken, the Philippines also exports fresh produce such as bananas, mangoes and okra to Japan.