Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured the herbal industry leaders the government will help increase linkages between their raw material producers and manufacturers to ensure the high quality, reliability and safety of their products, which are crucial for them to better penetrate the multibillion dollar global wellness market.
Yap said the government is ready to partner with the herbal industry from production to the marketing stage and packaging phase to help transform their products into export winners.
In a speech before the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines, Inc. (CHIP), Yap said the DA is willing to invest in crops to produce the raw materials that the herbal industry uses to make organic foods, personal care and wellness products, and food supplements—if CHIP’s members will commit to purchase them to guarantee income for farmers.
CHIP comprises over 50 member-companies. This includes manufacturers, distributors, suppliers of raw materials, service providers, scientists, academe and inventors in the areas of natural, herbal organic food products, health products, food supplements and personal care products.
"If you can give us the downstream support in terms of orders, DA is willing to invest so that farmers can plant the raw materials that are needed to produce herbal and organic products," Yap said. "This is the kind of partnership that the DA can forge with your industry," he added. The DA is also ready to train farmers so they can apply the necessary technologies to commercialize the production of these raw materials.
One of CHIP’s major goals is for the industry to hit $1 billion in exports by 2010. CHIP is banking on the vast Filipino expatriate sector to help fulfill this goal.
CHIP considers, after North America, the Middle East as the next biggest market for herbal products considering that it has one of the highest concentrations of Filipino expatriates. In Dubai alone, CHIP estimates, there are about 500,000 Filipino expatriates who are potential buyers of herbal products.
"In this aspect, the DA can assist the industry by subsidizing part of the fees necessary for CHIP’s member-companies to take part in international trade shows and exhibits overseas," Yap assured.
"This is what I am trying to do in the DA, which is why under my term, the DA has been setting aside funds for farmers who are into downstream products and want to sell locally and abroad so we have been setting aside money for producers who go abroad for trade fairs or food exhibits, and we have also been trying to help them right now with their packaging needs," Yap revealed.
Yap said the DA has been opening opportunities for small players in the herbal industry by displaying their products in the Department’s agri-export showroom located at the ground-floor lobby of its central office in Quezon City. (DA-PRESS OFFICE) /MP
No comments:
Post a Comment