Fruit, vegetable producers showcase products in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Mindanao’s fruit and vegetable producers seek to expand their market reach as they meet with prospective buyers during the first Visayas-Mindanao Fruit and Vegetable Market Encounter held in Cebu yesterday.

The event held at the Sarrosa Hotel was organized by the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers Association (NorMinVeggies), the Mindanao Fruit Industry Council (MinFruit) and the Vegetable Industry of Southern Mindanao (VICSMIN).

It was done for Mindanao producers to gain better understanding of the quality and volume requirements of fruit and vegetable buyers in the Visayas.

Supported by USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, it brought together a tenfold of fruit and vegetable producers from both Visayas and Mindanao to showcase their products and to establish direct relationship with processors, consolidators, and exporters.

“We found out that there is a need to meet farmers of the market especially in the Visayas and Mindanao,” said Ronald Tolentino, Regional Sales Manager of the East-West Seed Company.

“It is easy to produce vegetables but the predicament or problem is the market,” he added.

The conference explored ways on how the exhibitor-participants can expand their market reach when they meet with prospective buyers based in Visayas.

“The purpose of this encounter is to let the traders and farmers meet so that they can sell their products directly or they can have sort of an arrangement,” explains Tolentino.

MinFruit, VICSMIN and GEM aim to strengthen the competitiveness of Mindanao’s fruit and vegetable industries.

“We hope that in this small endeavor we are contributing much in the economy of Visayas and Mindanao,” said Christopher Lucero, Chief of the DA-AMAD RFU VII. (FREEMAN)