Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Cotabato fruits sold out in fair
Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia lauded North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol for his efforts in bringing prosperity and progress in his province.
Garcia, who was guest of honor at the opening of the North Cotabato Fair and Fruit Festival at the SM City Cebu last Friday, expressed her appreciation for the holding of the fair in Cebu.
“This is the beginning of a strong partnership between Cebu and North Cotabato,” Cebu’s first lady governor said.
Initially, the two governors discussed the possibility of gathering Cebu’s local fruit traders and North Cotabato’s farmers and fruit growers to discuss possible business linkages.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama, who also heads the Cebu City Tourism Council, also attended the opening program.
Success
Meanwhile, Cebuanos hoping to buy fruits, such as durian, marang, rambutan, lanzones, mangosteen and pomelo at prices lower than those prevailing in the local market, lined up early outside the entrance of the fair venue.
The fair management had to allow limited selling even before the formal opening to accommodate those wanting to buy fruits as early as 10 a.m.
The fair, which was concluded yesterday, was staged after the success of the 1st North Cotabato Fair and Fruit Festival at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City last Aug. 5 to 8.
The initial shipment of almost seven tons of marang, mangosteen, rambutan, lanzones, durian, pomelo and banana proved too little for Cebuano buyers as these were sold out in just two to three hours faster than expected during the fair.
Crowd
Before the opening on Friday, the exhibitors were forced to sell their products as the crowd insisted on buying fruits as early as 9 a.m.
Several minutes after the opening ceremonies at 1 p.m., almost all of the fruits were sold out.
Even the sale of dinorado upland rice was unexpectedly high.
Only a few kilos of the five sacks brought by the Arakan Valley Complex staff were left for selling even before the fair formally opened.
Tons
Approximately 6.5 tons of fruits were brought to Cebu City for the opening day of the fair.
These included 13 crates of durian, 10 crates of marang, 35 crates of mangosteen, 31 crates of rambutan, 20 crates of cardava, 10 crates of lacatan, 21 crates of pomelo, 6 crates of pineapple, and 59 boxes of lanzones.
Another seven tons, which include 15 crates of cardava, 58 crates and 86 boxes of lanzones, 36 crates of rambutan, 63 durian, 21 banana, 3 latundan, 25 lacatan, 3 mango and 15 pomelo arrived Monday for the remaining days of the fair.(PR/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(September 27, 2005 issue)
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