Rift simmers between banana coops, exporters in Davao over pricing
04/07/2008 | 01:41 AM
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Small banana growers have hit back at banana companies which had earlier scored the former’s practice of selling to third-party spot buyers, hence, depriving the companies — this region’s prime dollar earner — of supply.
Joven S. Revilla, chairman of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Tamayong, Calinan District, claimed that "pole-vaulting" to third-party buyers — which has resulted in increasing price quotes for traders — is a product of the banana companies’ insistence on a low buying price when other buyers offer a better deal.
"Small farmers would not resort to pole-vaulting if the banana companies only listened to our pleas. We only desire to have a fair share of the trade, but the banana companies... never accorded us the simplest respect that a partner deserves," Mr. Revilla said in a statement issued over the weekend.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Vice-President Gerardo Ignacio B. Ongkingco had earlier said the country would end up with a "bad banana" image if the government will tolerate "pole-vaulting." PBGEA groups 34 companies that package Cavendish bananas for export.
Mr. Ongkingco said third-party spot buyers do not comply with the quality standards of export destinations, hence, banana producers are lulled to observe lower standards.
He has proposed controlling the exit points of bananas to export markets as well as regulating the businesses of spot buyers.
Demetrio Canuto, chairman of the Tamayong Integrated Saging Growers Cooperative, said Arabian buyers have pegged the price of Class A Cavendish bananas at $4.50-$6 per box, double the price offered by local banana companies at $2.28/box. "The banana industry players are so alarmed about the repercussions of this practice, but they are practically doing nothing at all to change their own [pricing] practice. If small banana growers remain under them, we would all die hungry," he said.
In his state of the province address last March 31, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario said there’s a need to control pole-vaulting which confronts "the number one dollar-earner industry in the province." He formed a Banana Industry Tripartite Council to address the problem. - J. B. Escovilla, BusinessWorld
Joven S. Revilla, chairman of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Tamayong, Calinan District, claimed that "pole-vaulting" to third-party buyers — which has resulted in increasing price quotes for traders — is a product of the banana companies’ insistence on a low buying price when other buyers offer a better deal.
"Small farmers would not resort to pole-vaulting if the banana companies only listened to our pleas. We only desire to have a fair share of the trade, but the banana companies... never accorded us the simplest respect that a partner deserves," Mr. Revilla said in a statement issued over the weekend.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Vice-President Gerardo Ignacio B. Ongkingco had earlier said the country would end up with a "bad banana" image if the government will tolerate "pole-vaulting." PBGEA groups 34 companies that package Cavendish bananas for export.
Mr. Ongkingco said third-party spot buyers do not comply with the quality standards of export destinations, hence, banana producers are lulled to observe lower standards.
He has proposed controlling the exit points of bananas to export markets as well as regulating the businesses of spot buyers.
Demetrio Canuto, chairman of the Tamayong Integrated Saging Growers Cooperative, said Arabian buyers have pegged the price of Class A Cavendish bananas at $4.50-$6 per box, double the price offered by local banana companies at $2.28/box. "The banana industry players are so alarmed about the repercussions of this practice, but they are practically doing nothing at all to change their own [pricing] practice. If small banana growers remain under them, we would all die hungry," he said.
In his state of the province address last March 31, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario said there’s a need to control pole-vaulting which confronts "the number one dollar-earner industry in the province." He formed a Banana Industry Tripartite Council to address the problem. - J. B. Escovilla, BusinessWorld
