FOOD TERMINAL, INC. (FTI) said it is urging private buyers to participate in buying onions from farmers in Occidental Mindoro, saying it has little capacity to support the market alone.
In a statement on Monday, the state-controlled food processing and logistics company said its procurement activities are aimed at supporting farmers as they face pressure from falling prices during the harvest season.
FTI’s Sales and Distribution Manager Edoard B. Medalla in a statement said the company is working with private investors to expand the procurement process.
Mr. Medalla said the partners bought about 6,000 27 kilogram bags of onions at P32 to P35 per kilo, which is much higher than the current farmgate price of about P22 per kilo.
The average cost of production in Occidental Mindoro is estimated at P18 to P24 per kilo, indicating that the current farmgate prices are below the breakeven levels of other farmers.
FTI estimates freight costs at about P8 per kilo, which brings the effective cost of transporting onions to cold storage facilities in Nueva Ecija to around P40 to P43 per kilo.
Mr. Medalla said Occidental Mindoro has limited cold storage capacity and is suffering from unspecified operational problems.
“These are perishable goods, the quality of which deteriorates quickly after harvesting,” he said. “This is the first time we enter the onion market in Mindoro, so we have to rely on the experts we partner with in Nueva Ecija to maintain the quality.”
Mr. Medalla said Occidental Mindoro’s output is estimated at 3.2 million bags.
“We will not guarantee the purchase (of the entire crop), but we will try to support prices of around P35 per kilo, depending on the level and availability of storage space,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Nueva Ecija, consumers supported by FTI bought about 110,000 bags at a price of P40 per kilo, using part of the final capacity of 190,000 bags received by the agency.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. he said that targeted procurement and storage is important in controlling price fluctuations without distorting market dynamics.
“Strategic purchasing and storage allows us to support producers in times of oversupply, while maintaining a buffer to prevent price increases,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said onion production in Occidental Mindoro has increased significantly, as the planted area increased to 8,637 hectares this season from 6,000 hectares in 2025.
This expansion is expected to produce an additional 27,000 metric tons, which is roughly half of last year’s estimated national supply deficit.
The DA said the increase in production, coupled with low storage capacity, is putting downward pressure on farmgate prices and giving traders greater power to set prices.
Occidental Mindoro currently has eight cold storage facilities with the capacity to handle about 16% of the expected harvest.
The DA said that while there is a “large” cold storage facility planned to be operational next year, the total capacity is expected to cover only a quarter of the production. – Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel
