donates thousands of bananas, relief packs for typhoon survivors

Tadeco gains GlobalGAP certification

Tagum Agricultural Development Company, or Tadeco, recently achieved GlobalGAP certification for their banana-exporting operation. The company, based out of the Philippines, reached the landmark earlier this year.

“This is a milestone for us,” said Alexander N. Valoria, President of Tadeco. “This is something we've undertaken with conviction to pursue because we know that the markets will be asking for this.” The certification came after a stringent audit by Control Union Certifications to ensure that Tadeco's banana export operation met all of GlobalGAP's food safety and sustainability standards. Valoria noted that they had already achieved Philippine Good Agricultural Practices certification, but it was necessary to achieve a higher certification in order to compete on the international market.

“GlobalGAP is now being recognized by all the major players in the banana industry as the farm management certification that needs to be put in place if you want to cater to the large markets, particularly Japan,” said Valoria. “So all the large companies have adopted GlobalGAP, and I'm glad that Tadeco is one of them. These certifications prove that Tadeco practices are on par with those of the best Cavendish banana-producing companies in the world, not only in terms of quality and productivity, but also food safety and sustainability, environmental protection and occupational health and safety for workers.”

Along with its certification, Tadeco, and with its employees, has also been busy with the relief effort in the Philippines for those who were affected by the recent typhoon. Thousands of bananas, relief packs, and bottled water were distributed to Ormoc and Tacloban, Leyte as the Anflocor Group of Companies and the Filipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) responded to the need of the survivors of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

Six thousand boxes of export-quality Cavendish bananas, close to 8,000 relief packs which consisted of food and basic items, and 10,000 bottles of water were loaded to trucks and reefer vans that set foot to typhoon-stricken communities. Employees of Anflocor, themselves, volunteered to pack the relief items as sacks of goods poured in from other members of PBGEA such as Tristar Group of Banana Companies, Lapanday Foods Corporation, and Del Monte Fresh Produce (Philippines), Inc.

Anflocor, through its banana company Tadeco, and PBGEA also distributed thousands of bananas and food packs to communities in Bohol that were hit by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake last October 15.

For more information:
Honey Wong
Anflocor (Tadeco)
Tel: +6382-2348202
Email: hawong@anflocor.com

Publication date: Tue 3 Dec 2013