Hybrid-rice producer SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) said on Tuesday that it shipped out a total of 28 metric tons (MT) of premium rice being marketed under the Doña Maria brand to Los Angeles and New York in the United States.
SLAC Assistant Vice President for Operations Dona T. Lim said the company also exported 2 MT to Micronesia. Lim said the company wants to cater to the increasing demand of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for SLAC’s Doña Maria premium rice.
“It inspires us that when OFWs learn the rice comes from the Philippines, they become interested to buy it,” Lim said in a statement.
Of the total volume exported, 20 MT were shipped to Los Angeles, in partnership with trader Triple A. Lim said the company, partnered with United Food of Asia Ltd. based in Fresh Meadows to export 8 MT of premium rice to New York.
Lim said a “strong” marketing support from “advocates” of Philippine economic growth will help ensure that more nationalities would become aware that the country is a rice exporter.
“Thailand and Vietnam are really the ones more known when it comes to rice export. It’s been two decades since OFWs have stayed abroad, but some of them still need to know that [the Philippines] export high-quality rice,” Lim said.
She said that in terms of regular rice exports, the Philippines will find it difficult to compete with Thailand and Vietnam, where rice production is lower and the governments subsidize farmers.
“The quality and superiority of our rice is not the same as Vietnam’s. But Vietnam rice is only at around $1 per kilogram, as compared to $1.8 per kilogram for Philippine rice,” Lim said.
SLAC said it has also made shipments to Dubai this year. To date, shipments to Dubai have already reached 195 MT.
Lim said it expects the Doña Maria premium rice to reach other countries in Asia and the Middle East, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and Indonesia.
Philippine rice was able to penetrate the international market in 2013, when the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued a “special export permit” to ship out niche premium-quality, fancy rice.
Manila has banned the export of ordinary rice for decades, in light of the country’s status as net-rice importer.
SLAC said the DA facilitated the shipment of 35 MT of various Filipino rice brands to Dubai, 15 MT to Kuwait and Hong Kong, and 11.55 MT to Germany, Macau, Canada and the Netherlands.
In 2013 the country was able to export a total of 400 MT of rice, which included shipments of Doña Maria rice and other fancy rice. Another local supplier was the Don Bosco Multipurpose Cooperative, which exported
15 MT of organic black rice from Cotabato.
Special types of rice produced in the Cordillera region—Unoy and Tinawon—were also exported in September 2013.
SLAC produces the Doña Maria premium brown and white rice—the Miponica variety used in sushi and the aromatic Jasponica rice.