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Avante Agri-Products clinches deal to supply fresh and processed commodities to Bananah & Co., a fruit and vegetable wholesaler in Singapore
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The deal signed on August 10 during a Mindanao trade mission to Singapore was for Avante to initially supply one 40-foot container a week of fresh pineapple and papaya
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Avante is also seeking Singapore investments in farm development and expansion in Mindanao
Avante Agri-Products has signed an agreement in Singapore to ship fresh and processed fruits and other commodities to fruit and vegetable wholesaler Bananah & Co.
The agreement was signed on August 10 during an investment mission to Singapore by a group of exporters from Davao organized by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Mindanao Development Authority.
Under the agreement, Avante Agri will initially ship fresh pineapples and papaya to Bananah but the shipments will later include other products including fresh banana, durian, calamansi concentrate, and banana chips.
A minimum of one 40-footer container per week of both banana and papaya will be arriving in Singapore within two weeks from the signing, as the agreement states.
Avante Agri chief executive and general manager Lalaine Lam added that a weekly price quotation will be prepared for the products before the scheduled deliveries.
“Since prices for fruits like papaya and banana can go up a dollar or two, we need to agree [on the price] on a weekly basis,” Lam said.
Meetings leading to the partnership began in April when Bananah was sourcing for potential partners in Davao City.
The agreement was finalized on the sidelines of the Mindanao business mission to Singapore this week.
“We are looking forward to a productive and efficient supply chain with good quality and reasonable prices,” Bananah founder and managing partner Jason B.Y. Nah said.
In addition to supplying commodities to Singapore, Avante Agri is looking at investments in farm development and expansion in Mindanao.
“Investments like these can ensure that their volume and quality requirements are met,” Lam added.
Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Maria Belen S. Acosta echoed this sentiment, urging investors to look at value-adding investments as a priority when linking up with their Mindanao counterparts.
We already have the vast lands and the ideal climate in Mindanao. If we pair it up with the right investments in infrastructure, processing, and renewable energy, we can scale up our trade and economic activities,” she added.
The business mission to Singapore is a four-day event that aims to present Mindanao as an ideal investment destination for top global market hubs such as Singapore.
Follow-through activities are expected to take place in the near future, according to Tan Teck Lee, country head (Thailand, Malaysia, and Philippines) of the Singapore Business Federation.
“We are working with the Department of Trade and Industry and the MinDA for a conduct of an overseas mission trip early next year to visit investment areas in Mindanao,” he said.
The Mindanao delegation concluded its trade forum on August 10 and is scheduled to fly back to Davao on August 12.
