April 21, 2005

Pork in a box, to cut prices in Philippines

The Philippines Department of Agriculture has started a " pork in a box"  scheme to cut the cost of pork from 142 peso per kg to a wholesale cost of 103 peso, and retail cost of 110-120 peso.

Pete Ocampo, DA's Livestock Development Council director, said pigs will soon be slaughtered, frozen and packaged in the farms. This means savings in animal's feed and human labour when shipping the bulky animals. Benefits also include reducing the weight loss in animals during transportation, and containing the spread of diseases between regions.

Slaughtering and packaging inside the farms would make the Philippines more cost-competitive with neighbouring countries that are currently exporting to the Philippines at 140 peso per kg. Domestic pork under this new scheme could cost only 103 peso.

Efren Nuestro, National Meat Inspection Service director, said the Pork in a Box or PIB programme, may substitute pork and pork product imports totalling 55,570 tonnes in 2004, and eventually lead to the Philippines exporting chilled or frozen pork.

The scheme is being tested in General Santos province which produces 24,111 heads per month or 1,435 tonnes in cut form, Iloilo which produces 1.6 tonnes, Zamboanga 1.6 tonnes, and Cotabato 2 tonnes.

Currently, the retail cost of pork from General Santos goes as high as 160 peso per kg when live hog is shipped to Manila's wet markets. Mr Nuestro pointed out that frozen pork is not as acceptable as fresh pork in the wet market, but the DA wants to educate consumers that frozen pork in this new programme is just as safe and tasty.

The government will give out loans to hog producers so they can install the slaughtering, cutting and freezing facilities in their premises. Additionally, if PIB farms want to consider exporting their products in the future, they will need to be accredited by the NMIS first.