A local company, Eng Seng Food Products, shipped on Tuesday about 36,000 young aromatic coconuts to Guangzhou and Xiamen, China this week in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
The first shipment was the start of the completion of the contract agreement between the Chinese company China Artex Corporation and the local food company which was among the 19 agreements signed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China last April for the 2nd Belt and Road Forum. Under the contract, Eng Seng will supply $36.5 million worth of green coconuts to China Artex.
The shipment was finally pushed through after the local company complied with the export protocol of the Chinese government which allows entry of Philippine coconuts from the Mindanao and Leyte.
“We wanted to target 60 containers weekly,” said Eng Seng Food Products president John Tan, but because there was limitation in supply, the first shipment would only be 15 containers.
Tan said aromatic variety coconuts have a huge market in China due to their distinct taste and aroma and in order to meet the increasing demand, the DA 11 will help the company link with more coconut farmers.
He said he is willing to offer long-term marketing agreement with the interested local coconut farmers. They will also be provided with coconut seedlings and technical assistance from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in a statement said the shipment will be followed with a launching of marketing young coconuts in San Jose, California.
