Taiwan's Grobest opens US$15 million feed plant in Philippines

Fitted with new technologies, the Tarlac-based site will produce 150,000 tonnes of aquatic feeds annually, and signals the growing relationship between the Philippines and Taiwan, said officials.

Grobest Holdings Limited, a top Taiwanese feed company, had opened a US$15 million feed production plant in Central Luzon, the Philippines, during early December 2015, the Philippines News Agency reported.

The new facility is situated in the first-class municipality of Gerona, Tarlac.

Located on a 14.2-hectare property, Grobest Feeds Philippines Inc. has an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes for aquatic feeds and 200,000 tonnes for livestock feeds. Employing new technologies to create high-quality feeds, the facility will use agriculture products – sourced from Tarlac and neighbouring provinces - for raw materials.

Up to 200 local workers are expected to be involved in the plant's operations. 70% of the facility's workforce consists of Tarlac residents while 5% are Grobest staff from Taiwan, said Anne Go, the vice president and treasurer of Grobest Feed Philippines. The rest of the 25% hail from Metro Manila.

The Tarlac site is the best location since Luzon is the biggest and most prosperous island in the Philippines, said Dr. Gary Song-Huann Lin, the representative of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the country.

The inauguration of the Grobest Feeds Philippines Inc. plant was led by Dr. Song-Huann Lin; Dr. Bao-Ji Chen, the Taiwanese Minister of Council of Agriculture; Amadeo Perez Jr., the chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO); Antonio Basilio, MECO's resident representative in Taiwan; Benjamin Tabios, the assistant director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR); and Norman Go, Gerona's mayor.

In addition, aquaculture development in the Philippines will benefit from the country's positive economy, government efficiency and friendly financing aid, An-Hung Chuang, the chairman of Grobest Philippines, commented.  
 

MECO's Basilio pointed that the Grobest plant reflects the signing of a treaty, known as the Philippines-Taiwan Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters, last November.

The agreement would mitigate fisheries dispute between both countries whilst also protecting the rights and interests of Taiwanese fishermen operating legally, according to a Manila Times report. 

BFAR's Tabios revealed that the Philippine Department of Agriculture would assist Grobest in marketing its products to Luzon provinces and other regions in the country.

Grobest started in Taiwan in 1974, with a primary goal of producing high quality aqua feeds. Having expanded into a vertically integrated aquaculture enterprise, the company is committed to developing innovative technology for ecological conservation in order to achieve sustainable aquatic production.