MPIC eyes protein segment in agribusiness

MANILA, Philippines — Conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) intends to fortify its agribusiness as it looks to further diversify its portfolio by venturing into the protein segment.

“We continuously want to look at areas where we can implement technology that will increase yield. We want to enter the protein segment because part of our core strategy is to look at the Filipino plate. We want to take a look at the protein segment which would either be meat, eggs or aquaculture,” Metro Pacific Agro Ventures (MPAV) president and CEO Juan Victor Hernandez said.

“All of those are very interesting. To be frank, for meat, we are kind of cautious because of ASF (African swine  fever) in terms of pork. For chicken, there’s avian flu. But for eggs, that’s a very interesting area that we would take a look at so we’re looking at that,” he said.

Hernandez said the group is also exploring ways to further utilize carabaos.

“We like to look at carabaos because we have a lot of carabaos in the Philippines. It’s a quintessential symbol of agriculture. But we only use it for tilling the land,” Hernandez said.

“In other countries, they actually milk the carabao. So if I can get, for example, two liters from every farmer, that’s extra income for the farmer that I can process into cheese,” he said.

For its agribusiness, MPIC made its entry into the sector in 2022 through a partnership with the Carmen’s Best Group, which was followed by another agri venture last year with the acquisition of 34.76 percent ownership in Axelum Resources Corp., a manufacturer and exporter globally of high-quality coconut products.

Last month, MPAV announced agreements to acquire 100 percent of Universal Harvester Dairy Farms Inc. (UHDFI) in a bid to continue its mission to provide fresh, high-quality dairy products for the Filipino people.

Located in Maramag, Bukidnon, UHDFI operates under the Bukidnon Milk Company brand.

It produces fresh milk, flavored milk, yogurt and cheese products, with presence primarily focused on key cities in Visayas and Mindanao.

“Our ice cream business is growing double. In fact, our first half number this year in terms of ice cream, we’ve already achieved the full year revenue of 2022 in ice cream when we invested in Carmen’s Best. So that’s an achievement that we’re proud of. And we are going to continue to push on the ice cream side,” Hernandez said.

“Ice cream is doing well and we have plans to grow. Now with the new supply we can now work on expanding our dairy line, which is fresh milk. We will now start the growth path for the dairy line,” he said.

Beyond investments in production, MPAV intends to further promote the dairy ecosystem with corn plantations and silage production in other parts of the country.

Other MPAV developments include Metro Pacific Dairy Farms, a modern and integrated dairy facility in Laguna scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2025 and Metro Pacific Fresh Farms, the largest vegetable greenhouse facility in the country located in San Rafael, Bulacan scheduled to be operational by fourth quarter this year.

 “That’s three and a half hectares worth of greenhouses, the largest in the country and we will be producing 800 metric tons of vegetables annually,” Hernandez said.

“And we’ve been given instructions already next year that the three and a half hectares, we will double to seven, which is the original plan. Seven hectares to produce 1,600 metric tons of vegetables,” he said.