San Miguel Poultry eyes 20% growth in Yakitori exports to Japan

Poultry integrator San Miguel Foods, Inc.-Poultry expects Yakitori chicken exports to Japan to grow by a fifth due to stronger demand this year. "Chicken in the Philippines is a choice preference in the Japanese market basically because our chicken has earned the reputation of being more tasty and tender. This is because we use smaller birds," company Vice-President Rita Imelda Palabyab told reporters last week. Last year, the firm exported about 6 million kilos of Yakitori chicken mostly to Japan. Yakitori or grilled chicken is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. It is made from bite-sized pieces of chicken meat or offal skewered on a bamboo stick and barbecued, usually over charcoal. San Miguel Poultry remains the only chicken exporting company in the Philippines after fellow integrators Vitarich and Bountry Fresh dropped put of the game because of high production costs. Meanwhile, Palabyab said San Miguel Poultry is preparing the threat posed by the full implementation of a free trade scheme among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Under the ASEAN Free Trade Area, tariffs for chicken products and livestock fell to 0-5 percent starting last January 1. "We don't feel [the threat of Afta] yet, but we have to prepare for that. We have to make ourselves more competitive," Palabyab said. "As in any country, fresh chicken is always preferable to frozen chicken. We have to capitalize on that advantage," she added. She said one crucial factor in the poultry sector’s competitiveness is stable corn supply and prices. Yellow corn is used as feeds for hogs and chicken. San Miguel Poultry is a division of San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc. Its operations include broiler breeding, hatching, growing and processing using company-owned and contracted facilities. — GMANews.TV