Sunday, September 23, 2007 Filipino-brand canned tuna in US a remote possibility By Bong S. Sarmiento
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Penetrating the United States market with a Philippine-brand canned tuna product remains a tall order for Filipino manufacturers, tuna industry leaders said.
Two former presidents of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Incorporated--Domingo Teng and Marfenio Tan--recently asserted the Philippines is still not in the position of penetrating US with a local brand.
Teng, owner of TSP Marine Industries Inc., said that Philippine-based canned tuna manufacturers would have a hard time establishing a foothold with their own brands in the American market given the giant players there.
"You have to be a really very big company to break the US market. You need to be a sizeable company capable of producing enough volume," he said.
Tan, owner of San Andres Fishing Industry Inc., said giant companies in the United States have long established a firm grip and it is very difficult to break their dominance.
"We really have a hard time branding our own canned tuna product in the US. We need to shell out lots of money for advertising to fight the products of the giants there," Tan said.
Local canned tuna manufacturers have been shipping their products to the United States but importers sell them using their preferred brands.
This practice holds through even for tuna-value added processors based in the city.
Jose Emmanuel Santos, chief executive officer of Santa Cruz Seafoods Inc., said their products are distributed in the United States but marketed in the brand of the buyer.
Santa Cruz supplies tuna fillets and steaks to at least two long-time clients in the United States.
Tan noted it would cost local canned tuna manufacturers a fortune to have their own brand patronized by American consumers as they have been used to trademarks of American firms.
For years, certain sectors, among them Senator Mar Roxas, a former secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, have pushed for a singular Philippine-brand canned tuna product to strengthen its position in major markets abroad.
Since the country is facing difficulties in penetrating the US market with a Filipino canned tuna brand, Teng and Tan urged industry players to look at China.
Tan said the industry has been trying to win the 1.3 billion Chinese population to change their eating pattern from freshwater fishes to tuna consumption.
"If the Chinese will only learn how to eat tuna, our supply in Europe and the United States will not be enough to meet the demand of China," he said.
