October 1, 2004

Philippines Looking At Liquid Egg As Future Export

Philippine egg producers said on Wednesday they are looking at the possibility of exporting their produce once a liquid egg-processing plant is established in the country.

According to Gregorio San Diego, owner of Rizal Poultry and chairman of the National Federation of Egg Producers of the Philippines (NFEPP), they came up with the idea after several food companies started using processed eggs in their products while ignoring fresh eggs in the market.

Companies buying eggs by the bulk shifted to cheap imported eggs during the past five years, resulting in lower prices for local eggs.

"We've been already selling below production costs. The only thing we thought to rationalize our cost is to sell eggs by the kilo. Consumers will also benefit from this kind of setup," he said.

Farm-gate prices of eggs range from P2.50 for small, P2.80 for medium and P2.85 to P2.90 for large eggs.

San Diego said the setting up of the egg processing plant will make the local industry more competitive in the international market, and add value to local egg production by extending its shelf life.

San Diego gave the assurance that the processing plant would be owned by the Philippine Egg Board, and run by professional workers.

Import of processed eggs like powder and dried and liquid albumen surged by 163.3 percent from 592.6 metric tons (mt) in 1998 to 1,560.5 mt in 2002.

Local egg producers, meanwhile, increased their output by 14.8 percent to 4.74 billion eggs over the same period last year.

The NFEPP placed local egg production at 70 million eggs a day.