Filipinos in the UAE need not be concerned about missing out their favorite Filipino food and products, as the Philippines had taken steps to ensure that the flow of import and export of these essential items remains unhampered
The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry Commercial Attache Charmaine Yalong stated that the country has proactively taken steps during the height of the pandemic, assuring that the manufacturing of food continued across the country. In the UAE and the Middle East, food from the Philippines comprises the majority of the country’s exported products.
“Exempted naman kasi ang food manufacturing, even at the height of the pandemic. Yun yung isa sa talaga sa mga steps na ginawa ng Philippine government unlike other countries na talagang nag-stop ang manufacturing. Sa atin sa Pilipinas, majority ng ating mga export especially sa UAE and Middle East ay pagkain – so hindi apektado ang ating trade because of that,” said Yalong.
She explained that delays on food shipments only began when a ship got stuck at the Suez Canal – known as the primary trading route for transshipment from South East Asia to the Middle East.
“Nagsimula lang natin maramdaman (ang delay sa shipment) dahil doon sa Suez Canal nito lang March kasi siyempre yan talaga yung daanan between the UAE and the Philippines. Meron tayong mga export nandoon three months. Yung usually 45 days lang, umabot ng 3 months dahil sa haba ng time ng travel. Minsan nakaalis na sa Pilipinas (ang produkto) na ho-hold sa Malaysia, na ho-hold sa Taiwan, sa Singapore yung transshipment hub, ganoon din pabalik,” explained Yalong.
In terms of supply, Yalong stated that the buyers and trading companies in the UAE that supply Filipino products across supermarkets and grocery stores have anticipated probable delays after the Suez Canal incident, and even bore some of the costs just to ensure that prices of commodities would not rise.
“Napaghandaan na na kailangan may mga advanced orders so mas dumadami ang supply. Yung first two quarters lang ng taon, nagkaroon ng kaunting shortage dito (dahil sa Suez) but definitely hindi nag-adjust yung buyers natin ng price (sa consumers). A lot of them imbis na tinaas nila yung price, hinayaan nila na magkaroon sila ng profit loss as much as 25%, kaya tayong mga consumers, hindi natin iyon naramdaman,” said Yalong.
Shankar Trading Company Executive Director Raju Gidwani revealed that they have shouldered the costs of buying products from the Philippines, just to ensure that the supermarkets that they supply will continue to have Filipino products on their shelves.
“We are absorbing a lot of losses now because to be very honest, we are not making any profit – but we have to sell products to the community. We have to fulfil the demand of the consumers. We can’t keep our supermarket shelves empty, so we had to continue the importation. The good thing is that we are maintaining the availability; most of the products are available with us. Of course, it’s not like before, but we are trying our best to bring as much as products on time, on our shelves. Just to ensure that consumers will not miss their favorite foods,” said Gidwani.
Lito German, CEO of Sandbox Middle East that supplies Filipino products such as Delimondo, Arce Dairy ice cream, Pacquiao 3-in-1 Coffee, Frabelle Snacks and so much more in the UAE, said that they have also been shouldering expenses just to ensure that they don’t pass on the burden of increased costs to their customers.
“SandBox operates on the long-term vision of strengthening our presence in the Middle East – and if that means making some sacrifices in terms of margins in the short term, then we are willing to make that investment. In other words, we have not passed on any additional costs to our customers, to keep our retail prices affordable,” said German.
Continuous importation
Supportive governments
German added that both the Philippines and the UAE have helped to maintain a smooth flow of product import and export, so as to ensure that Filipinos and residents in the UAE get to enjoy products shipped all the way from back home.
“The support from both governments is simply astounding. We value our working relationship with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)- Dubai, most especially with our Commercial Attaché Ms. Charmaine Yalong, who has been amazing at making introductions and facilitating deals for us. She is also an expert trouble shooter, who’s ready to lend a helping hand whenever needed,” said German.
The SandBox Middle East CEO added that the UAE remains committed helping businesses remain efficient, especially for food suppliers like them.
“At the same time, the UAE is ranked 16th among 190 countries in terms of the ease of doing business – and we certainly experience this and benefit from it. Most of our business processes pertaining to the UAE government can be done online and in real time. And in cases where face to face contact is required such as product inspections and shipping clearances, UAE government workers are highly efficient and admirably professional,” added German.
Gidwani, for his part, assures that Shankar Trading would continue to fill out supermarket shelves with products that Filipinos love so that they wouldn’t miss out on enjoying their preferred products especially now that Christmas time is almost here.
“We are here to serve the community, no matter what challenges are there. We will cope up with these challenges, and we will try our very best to fulfil the demand of the community. Filipinos are very brand conscious. We will try our very best to provide them as much as products as possible to be available in the UAE throughout the year,” said Gidwani.
Philippine trade unhampered despite global container shortages – DTI
Source: Pinoy News Udpates PH
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