ANI expands banana production area

MANILA, Philippines - Listed fruit and vegetable grower Agrinurture Inc. is expanding its banana cultivation area and improving its cold storage facilities to increase its export sales.

The company recently acquired a 1,000-hectare banana plantation in Mindanao which would add 40,000 metric tons of Cavendish banana to its annual production.

“We are aggressive in terms of expanding our banana plantation and cold storage easily our capital expenditure for that would be about P1 billion,” ANI chairman Antonio Tiu told reporters yesterday.

He said ANI has been expanding its banana cultivation area to improve supply of the fruit for export in anticipation of increased overseas demand.

The company currently ships banana and other fruits such as coconut, mangoes, pineapple and papaya to the Middle East, China, North America and Europe.

ANI is also engaged in the commercial distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables to retail establishments as well as to hotels, restaurants, public wet markets and catering companies. These are done through its three subsidiaries, First Class Agriculture (FCA), Fresh and Green (FG), and Lucky Fruit and Vegetables (LF).

It also manufactures fruit beverages through its subsidiaries M2000 Imex in Bulacan, Hansung Agro in FTI Taguig and Fruitilicious in Cagayan de Oro. M2000 Imex manufactures fruit beverages such as mango nectar, tamarind juice, coco juice and coffee. 

Fruitilicious, meanwhile, serves the frozen and processed fruit requirement of food manufacturers and processors, both for the local and export market.