Alsons Aquaculture to Export Fish to China
23 January 2012PHILIPPINES - The Alsons Aquaculture Corp (AAC) expects to break into the Xiamen market this year, after testing the market with an initial nine ton shipment of frozen milkfish for distribution in retail stores.
Gabriel H. Alcantara, assistant vice president of the processed food division, said AAC would be the first company to test the potential of bangus exports in China, reports Malaya.
Being the first to set up a commercial hatchery and having been in the business for longer than 20 years, Finfish Hatcheries Inc. and AAC, both owned by the Alcantara group of companies, own the only fully integrated fish culture operations in the Philippines.
The company has grown to be the biggest aquaculture operation such that 80 percent of its annual gross revenues come from exports to the United States.
By breaking into the huge China market, AAC hopes to further entrench the position of the company as the country’s largest exporter of processed and packaged milkfish, Mr Alcantara added.
"The milkfish were hatched and raised in Alsons’ own aquaculture farm in Alabel, Sarangani and processed on-site at AAC’s state-of-the-art facility," he said.
Alcantara revealed the initial volume of nine tons was shipped from General Santos City in late December last year and arrived in Xiamen in early January.
Alsons’ foray into the China market comes in the wake of a report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that aquaculture now supplies about half of the world’s fish consumption.
Asia is the world’s aquaculture hub. FAO reports that te region accounts for about 89 per cent of aquaculture ventures.
China is the leading aquaculture practitioner in Asia but the entry of Alsons into its market paves the way for Philippine fisheries to have a foothold in the world’s most populous country.
Alsons has more than 320 hectares of inland ponds and hatcheries in Mindanao and supplies fry to fishponds all over the country.
Aside from aquaculture and agribusiness, the Alcantara group engages in power generation and power plant management, property development, and services.
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