Through a US$19m loan agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine exporter Unifrutti will expand its production area of cavendish bananas to meet growing demand.
Unifrutti currently has around 1,200ha of corporate plantations and 5,000ha through contracted growers. Alberto Bacani, president and CEO of Unifrutti says the loan, which will fund a further 700ha of banana production is the largest the state-owned bank has put forward for farm development.
Bacani, who is also chairman of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association said Unifrutti’s expansion programme is in place to meet growing demand. Export volumes of bananas, the country’s leading agricultural export commodity, are estimated to have grown 77 per cent in 2018 when compared to the year prior.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation’s preliminary market review report estimated the 77 per cent growth, also citing an all-time high volume of bananas exported at 2.95m tonnes, up from 1.66m tonnes in 2017.
Despite the investment funding, the Philippines is facing growing pressure from South American banana suppliers. It has been working on diversifying its export portfolio and varieties, which includes opening the Australian market and promoting local bananas like saba.
