SMC SPEARHEADS FARM INCOMES BOOST WITH CORN PURCHASE OF 400K METRIC TONS

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) reported that its food unit, San Miguel Foods Inc., has purchased a total of 436,209 metric tons of corn from local farmers as of September 30, as part of efforts to help boost farm incomes and ensure the country’s food security in the midst of the pandemic.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the company has been ramping up its local corn purchases since quarantine protocols and disruptions in transportation have limited the ability of farmer cooperatives in north central and southern Luzon, as well as southern Mindanao to sell their produce nationwide.

The move also heeds the call from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for companies to continue supporting famers, especially in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.

“Back in May, we announced our plan to buy more local corn to prevent farmers from losing their capital, letting the corn just go to waste and to secure our raw materials for food production. We’re fortunate that we have completed construction of many of our new, modern feed mills nationwide, equipped with large silos with aerators. This allows us to stockpile and store corn and other grains for a year,” Ang related.

SMC’s local corn purchases, according to Ang, have also helped encourage other feed millers and local assemblers, particularly those under the Philippine Association of Feed Millers (PAFMI) to shore up their corn purchases from local farmers.

Ang said that the company is still looking to buy more corn, particularly from Bukidnon and Pangasinan, once their harvest season starts in the first quarter of 2021.

“We will continue to help our local farmers however we can, and, at the same time ensure our supply of raw materials for food production. This pandemic has been a great challenge to all of us Filipinos and our economy. But we if we work together and contribute, we will be able to help out many sectors,” Ang said.

Apart from guaranteeing off-take for corn farmers, SMC has also initiated various programs to help, not only farmers, but the entire agricultural sector, namely the "Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita" stores at Petron gas stations to allow farmers to sell fresh produce to Metro Manila consumers, and it also bought excess carabao milk from local cooperatives to distribute to poor communities.

Yet another of SMC's recent endeavors is Better World Diliman, a market for excess produce bought from farmers at better-than-farmgate prices, and sold to resellers and consumers at lower prices.