PH deepens Canada agri push with fresh mango shipment

The Philippines has sent another commercial shipment of fresh Carabao mangoes to Canada, this time targeting Vancouver as the government seeks to turn its recent entry into the Canadian market into a more sustained export opportunity.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that 1 metric ton of mangoes, packed into 250 cartons, had been shipped out on Sept. 18 from Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex in Parañaque City.

The shipment was arranged by Mensch FilAm Corp. in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau under its Outbound Business Matching Mission program.

Vancouver-based Fresh Makers Ltd., which supplies supermarkets and institutional buyers, will import the mangoes. Air Canada handled the air freight, while Airspeed Cargo provided logistics support.

This builds on the Philippine mangoes’ debut in Canada earlier this year.

On June 3, exporters Hi-Las Marketing Corp. and Castillo Import Export Ventures Inc. sent fresh Carabao mangoes to Ontario-based TSI Tropicals Inc., in what the DA at the time described as the first commercial shipment to Canada.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said expanding overseas markets could provide farmers with additional income while drawing more investment into agriculture and generating opportunities across production, consolidation, logistics, processing and distribution.

“When we can sell more Philippine agricultural products abroad, we create opportunities to increase farm incomes, encourage more investment in agriculture and bring greater economic activity to the countryside,” Tiu Laurel said.

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To build sufficient supply for exports, the DA said more than 40 mango growers’ groups have been consolidated into a single federation to improve coordination, aggregation and market access.

The Bureau of Plant Industry is also working to address diseases affecting mango production and strengthen plant health measures needed to meet export market requirements.

It has separately entered into an agreement with Mitsui & Co. to support development of the local mango industry.