THE Philippines on Wednesday delivered its first commercial shipment of fresh Carabao mangoes to Toronto in Canada, Agriculture spokesman Arnel de Mesa said in a statement.
Carabao mangoes are world-famous for their exceptional sweetness, tender texture, and rich aroma. While commonly grouped together, there are multiple strains of the Carabao mango grown across the country, with the provinces of Guimaras and Zambales known for producing premium variants.
Local exporters Hi-Las Marketing Corp. and Castillo Import Export Ventures Inc. supplied the mangoes, which were imported by Ontario-based TSI Tropicals Inc.
Philippine Airlines carried the mangoes via a commercial air freight program facilitated by the High-Value Export Crop, Agri-Fishery Export Development and Promotion Office initiated by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and headed by Undersecretary Philip Young.
The shipment was coordinated by the Philippine Agriculture Office in Washington, D.C., the Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine Trade Investment Center in Toronto, and mango industry stakeholders.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) participated in a send-off ceremony at the Philippine Airlines cargo terminal in Pasay City.
“This is another step toward our goal of widening and diversifying the global market for our farm products such as bananas, coconuts, and mangoes. It is time for other parts of the world to get a taste of the Philippines,” said Tiu Laurel.
“The government is helping pave the way for the private sector to showcase to the world the products of Philippine farms. This is what happens when a nation works together,” Young said.
The DA is also promoting exports of other high-value crops such as Cavendish bananas, Cardaba/Saba bananas, cacao, pomelo, rambutan, dalandan, pineapple, okra, asparagus, pili, durian, avocado, dragon fruit, calamansi, and ube.
The prospect of exporting pomelo to Japan before the yearend was discussed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent state visit to that country.
Attaches from the Department of Trade and Industry are also helping promote the country’s export products, de Mesa said, noting that the Philippines has great potential in exporting its tropical fruits. “We have proven this with bananas and pineapples because our tropical fruits are truly world-class in quality,” he said.
Tiu Laurel is pushing to increase the country’s export receipts, specifically for agricultural commodities, to raise the income of our local farmers, de Mesa said.
However, fulfilling export volumes had previously challenged government initiatives, so the DA is focusing on boosting productivity and lowering the cost of production to make exports more competitive, de Mesa said.
