Crop consolidator seeks more tamarind suppliers

MANILA, Philippines - Crop consolidator Vieva Philippines, Inc. is looking for farmers’ cooperatives that could supply 500 metric tons (MT) of fresh tamarind for this semester and possibly 2,000 metric tons next year to Vietnam.

Vieva president Lea Cruz said in a phone interview yesterday that the company was already able to consolidate 20 metric tons of fresh tamarind from a cooperative in Ilocos Norte. The tamarind would be shipped to Vietnam next month, but Vietnam is still scouring other cooperatives for supply to fill orders for 500 metric tons this semester.

“We are now looking in Pampanga and Isabela. That is the existing (volume of order) for now. For next year, they want to get 2,000 MT if the supply is stable,” she said.

 â€œSo right now, we have the market, but supply it seems is short.”

Vieva is working on a supply agreement with the Mariang Sinukuan Cooperative in Arayat, Pampanga.

The crop consolidator coordinates regularly with the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCD) of the Agriculture department for sourcing.

HVCD director Jennifer Remoquillo said that while tamarind cultivation areas in the country are still not substantial in terms of hectarage, these have been slowly increasing.

She said around 150 hectares of new cultivation areas, most of which are located in Central Luzon have recently been added.

In Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija alone, 30 new hectares of new tamarind cultivation areas have been started.

“We are now expanding our areas for tamarind. In Fort Magsaysay, we are also expanding cultivation areas for ginger,” said Remoquillo.