US food exports jump 27% in the Philippines

21-Aug-2012 - Last updated on 22-Aug-2012 at 07:59 GMT

Related tags Food processing industry Meat Us

The Philippines has emerged as a top destination for US food and beverage manufacturers, says the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

According to the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report published by FAS, American food and beverage exports to thePhilippinesincreased 27% in 2011 to a record $761m.

A rapidly growing middle class and strong reputation for quality drove this growth, the report said.

Saving the US food processing industry

“Sales are up 16% from January to May 2012 and are expected to reach US$850m by year-end. The Philippines continues to be the largest food and beverage market in South East Asia,” it said.

The FAS said that it expects that the US will remain the Philippines’ top supplier of a wide variety of food and beverage products.

According to the report, the Philippines market fills over 19,000 container trucks and provides support to the roughly 1.8 million American food processing jobs.

“When compared with the BRIC countries, the Philippines ranks third after China and Russia. With just 100 million people, the Filipino market for US food products is over 50% larger than that of India with its one billion in population,” it said.

Healthy, gourmet, and convenient

More importantly, this healthy export growth is broad-based, with 13 of the 16 items that comprise the food and beverage category achieving record sales in the last year.

“The best news for the US food and beverage industry is that nearly all the products that comprise this high value, job-generating sector enjoyed strong growth and record sales,” it said, adding that top US exports were dairy products, red meats, poultry meat, snack foods, and processed fruits and vegetables.

“While sales for all food and beverage products are expected to remain strong, prospects are especially strong for meat and poultry products, and products that can be classified as organic, healthy, gourmet, and convenient,” the report said.

The best prospects for US food and beverage products are beef, pork, poultry, dairy and cheese products, processed fruits and vegetables, fresh fruits and vegetables, wine and beer, and snack foods.

The report can be found here.