EIGHT major institutional buyers, including supermarkets and other food outlets, have expressed interest in sourcing onions from Mindoro, following a recent online market-matching event, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.
A surge in onion production in Occidental Mindoro has overwhelmed local capacity, with existing cold storage facilities able to accommodate only about 16 percent of the projected harvest for March and April.
This month, the DA and Food Terminal Inc. began purchasing onions directly from farmers to stabilize prices and prevent a price collapse.
The interested buyers include Walter Mart Supermarket, Robinsons Supermarket, Nutri-Asia, Vikings Group, Blue McKay Food Manufacturing, Agro-Digital PH, Bernabe Market, and the New Las Piñas Market.
With a monthly supply requirement of 5 to 16 metric tons of red onions, the buyers offered Mindoro farmers direct access for their produce, subject to final terms, the DA said.
One agreement reached at the market matching was to empower farmers‘ cooperatives and associations to set their own farmgate and delivery prices to ensure fair pricing and higher income.
The New Las Piñas Market has pledged priority selling spaces for Mindoro onion farmers to sell directly to the market, the DA said.
Deliveries are being arranged for major markets such as Cavite and the National Capital Region, the DA said, adding that Kadiwa trucks will be used to save on transportation costs.
Details on volume, pricing and delivery schedules for the onions are being finalized.
The matching event was hosted by the DA‘s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service and the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division in Mimaropa (DA-AMAD Mimaropa).
“The goal of this initiative is to directly link our farmers to the market — not only to address current supply needs, but also to build long-term and profitable partnerships,” said DA-AMAD Mimaropa Market Specialist Rustom Gonzaga.
“Our role does not end with linking farmers to the market. Our agency ensures sustained guidance to cooperatives and associations, so that agreements are fulfilled and each transaction becomes successful — for the real benefit of our farmers,” DA-MIMAROPA Regional Executive Director Christopher Bañas said.
The event drew strong participation from the public and private sectors.
It enabled institutional buyers to meet farmers‘ cooperatives such as the Mindoro Progressive Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Occidental Mindoro Onion Industry Council, Caguray Irrigators and Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, New Maduron Country Farm Cooperative, Sagutt Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Tamaraw Development Cooperative, Lourdes Multi-Purpose Cooperative, United As One Agriculture Cooperative, Maujao San Francisco Farmers Association, and Amnay Cabagay Irrigators and Farmers Cooperative.
The municipal agriculture offices of Magsaysay, Sablayan, Palauan, and Bulalacao also supported the event.
While onions were the event‘s primary focus, the DA said the meeting also opened doors for multi-commodity partnerships, as some buyers were likewise interested in other products such as garlic, bell pepper, ginger and calamansi.
