Tuesday, February 13, 2007 Shemberg head urges upgrading, new ways
ONE of the largest suppliers of carrageenan or processed seaweed in the world is urging the country’s seaweed processing industry and the manufacturing sector to invest in innovations to keep up with the global economic crisis.
Benson Dakay, chief executive officer of Cebu-based Shemberg Co. (Shemberg), said in an interview that companies need to review and rehabilitate their manufacturing processes and upgrade their equipment for them to survive.
“If we will not rehabilitate, we will surely die,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shemberg has declined the invitation to put up a manufacturing plant in Indonesia despite the abundance of raw seaweeds in Indonesia.
Patronize
“We must patronize our country for it to develop,” Dakay said.
Shemberg has been importing more than half of its raw seaweed supply from Indonesia because of the shortage of seaweeds in the Philippines.
“Instead of investing in Indonesia, we just taught them the technology that would further whiten their raw seaweeds,” Dakay said.
With regard to its rehabilitation, he said Shemberg has invested some P200 million last year to buy machines, such as coal-fired broilers and filter presses, that will allow the company to get rid of the increasing expenses in fuel and alcohol.
Alcohol
Shemberg has bought two filter presses, which have replaced the alcohol precipitation equipment worth $2 million. The filter presses enable the company to use water instead of alcohol in making carrageenan gels.
Carrageenan is a thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer and gelling agent in food, beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It is extracted from the Euchema seaweed or native “guso.”
Dakay said the filter presses will reduce Shem-berg’s alcohol consumption by P30 million per year.
Some P60 million of the P200 million, on the other hand, was used to purchase broilers that are fueled by coal. These have enabled the company to divert or save its P15-million monthly expenses on bunker fuel.
The closure of FMC BioPolymer’s refined carrageenan manufacturing plant in Denmark in 2005 has made Cebu-grown Shemberg the largest producer and supplier of refined carrageenan in the world. (JBN)
