August 24, 2007 | 12:00am
The country’s local products are usually exported to the US and are catered to the American market, but now that the latter’s economy is not doing well and exporters are affected by the peso appreciation, some industries are starting to look for other countries to trade their products.
With this regard, a Scottish investor who holds a Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV) told The Freeman in an interview that the country’s local produce should be sent to Europe as he believes Europeans are the right market for the goods and no longer the Americans. He said there is so much room for Philippine produce in Europe as our products are one of the best in the world.
William “Bill” Hillditch is from Scotland and was married to a Filipina; for about eight years of staying in the country, he has owned several properties here in Visayas and in Mindanao. He owns three bars in one location called “William Ninoy’s Payag” with an English pub and a comedy bar called “Hacienda” located in Escario Street patterned after the original “Hacienda Bar” in Manchester that he partly owned where famous musicians like the Bee Gees, the Beatles and even Madonna have performed. He also owns yacht charters for day tripping and island hopping stationed in the Hilton Hotel.
Hillditch also owns mango, durian, orange and citrus plantations in Busay Sibonga, Nasipit and in Bohol. In his plantations, Hillditch have grown 400 mango trees, 64,000 citrus bushes, 2,000 Valencia orange trees, and 900 durian. The oranges, durian and citrus are sold locally in five star hotels within the city. He also processes exotic dried mangoes called “Mango Queen” which are exported to Manchester, England and Cyprus in the Middle East.
Hillditch said that Cebu has the best quality of mangoes and Europeans love its taste as it is better compared to mangoes imported from other countries. “I have no competition in Europe but there is a very big demand there. Filipino business people should explore and spend time to cater to the European market”
Every other month, Hillditch ships a whole container of exotic dried mangoes and these are packaged in his big warehouse in Manchester where he sells it to retailers afterwards. He said that one container in UK is worth millions of pesos and this is composed of 400-450 cartons that each contain 80 packs of dried mangoes. For wholesale, a pack of dried mangoes is sold for 75 pesos in Europe if converted to Philippine currency whereas in retail it is sold for 130 pesos apiece.
To be able to sell imported products to Europe Hillditch said that the products has to be checked by the European Union and has to have custom’s clearance first before it hits the stores. — Rhia de Pablo
