CDO Foodsphere goes into canning of bangus

After four years of marketing canned corned beef, CDO Foodsphere Inc. is now canning fresh bangus, brand named Sea Quest.

Foodsphere vice president for sales and marketing Ed Reataza said the company is targeting the high end and health-conscious markets for its two variants that will be sold in leading supermarkets of the country for P34 a can.

CDO made a name in its processed meat line such as corned beef, hotdogs, hams and sausages, which it sold in various sizes at prices lower than its competitors.

CDO’s fish canning project optimizes the use of its cannery but to avail of the great opportunities in bangus export market, government and private sector initiatives to upgrade the bangus sector and make it globally competitive.

Reataza said CDO currently gets its raw milkfish from its own fishponds in Central Luzon although it is ready to source from local grow-out ponds and operators.

Using fresh catch fish, Sea Quest has no preservative.

CDO participated in the recently-concluded 2nd national bangus congress held in Pangasinan early May. The congress saw the close collaboration of the Departments of Agriculture and Trade and Industry and the Bangus Association of the Philippines Inc. (BAPI) headed by Jimmy To of the Alsons Aquaculture.

Dubbed "Bangus Goes Global" the congress mapped out strategies to enhance the competitiveness of the bangus sector, including coming up with a seal of excellence for bangus export products to restore buyer confidence abroad.

Already, local bangus producers and processors are eyeing negotiations with export markets in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. Although these countries are engaged in bangus production, the Philippines is stepping up efforts to better position its bangus industry to supply these markets.

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. meanwhile reported that the bureau is putting up a third central bangus hatchery that will supply larvae to smaller satellite hatcheries surrounding it. The first central hatchery was put up by BFAR in Bonuan, Pangasinan in 2001; the second in Calate, Bohol and the third in Giwan, Samar.

The P15-million Bohol central bangus hatchery will be inaugurated early June by Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo Jr. and the ground breaking for the third central hatchery costing P10 million will be held in July.

The Samar hatchery will supply CARAGA, Eastern Visayas and parts of Bicol region, Sarmiento said.