Philippines – One of the Top 4 Banana Producers
Bananas are the fourth largest produced fruit crop in the world and grown by small-scale and large-scale producers alike. At present, Philippine is one of the world’s largest banana producers which ranked as the fourth after India, Uganda, China. It has produced more than 9.2 million tonnes of bananas, accounting for almost 6 percent of the global production (the latest statistics in 2014). The country is also the main world exporter of banana chips, has been exporting to 30 countries with US and EU being the major importers.
Banana Processing Industry in the Philippines
Banana can be processed such as banana chips, and other cooked food and feed preparations. Around 66% of the banana production is consumed by local market in the Philippines such as 16.5% for processing as a by-product of bananas; 45.5% are sold fresh in wet markets as table bananas; 4 percent banana due to rot or any other reasons as animal feeds and the remaining 34% of bananas are for export. Recent years, the processed products of banana to enter the market is banana chips. It has been a very lucrative business.
Domestic and Export Market of Banana Chips in the Philippines
Cardaba banana is the main ingredient of banana chips. It is mainly produced in Mindanao accounting for about 48% in terms of production and 41% in terms of area planted. 90 percent of the country’s banana chips are produced by the Mindanao. Among the 41 bigger processors-exporters of banana chips in the Philippines, 31 are found in Mindanao. The traditional main export markets for banana chips are Vietnam, US, China, UK, and Germany which accounts for about 64% of the total banana chip exports from 2007-2011. With increasing consciousness for healthy snack food, food technologists have suggested that for banana chips to penetrate into the export market in particular European countries where there are rigid nutritional requirements, the packaging, as well as the nutritional quality, must be improved especially.
Banana Chips Processors in the Philippines
There are 41 processors-exporters of banana chips in the Philippines with individual capacities ranging from 20-60 tons a day. Besides, there are also microprocessors who produce a maximum of around 4 tons banana chips annually. They contribute greatly to employment and income generation for farmers and micro and small business entrepreneurs.
We provide automatic banana chips production line with the capacity of 60kg/h to 300 kg/h and semi-automatic banana chips line which is suitable for small-scale production: 30kg/h, 60kg/h, and 150 kg/h.
