MANILA – Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production, Inc. (C-Joy), a joint venture between Cargill and Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), on Tuesday inaugurated a new poultry processing plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas province, which is touted as the country’s largest.
The plant is seen to boost income opportunities for local poultry farmers in Batangas and nearby provinces, as they will supply the chickens to be processed at the JFC facility.
With a processing capacity of 45 million chickens per year, the plant provides dressed and marinated chicken to meet the increased demand at JFC brands in the country. The investment, which C-Joy said underscores its commitment to deliver convenient, safe and affordable chicken products to the JFC brands in the Philippines, was celebrated in the presence of Batangas 3rdDistrict Congresswoman Ma. Theresa Collantes, Sto. Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez, and the United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim.
Paul Fullbright, President and CEO of C-Joy said: “We are bringing protein to family’s tables across the Philippines. Cargill and Jollibee came together to start this plant because of our common commitment to the highest standards in product quality and food safety. This is reflected in this new plant which harnesses technology and global experience to deliver tasty chicken products in an environment which is safe for our employees and is environmentally sustainable.”
C-Joy is partnering with local poultry farmers in Batangas and nearby provinces to supply chickens to the new facility. The farming community expressed their excitement at the income opportunities and highlighted their eagerness to be providing chicken to JFC brands in the country.
“We are looking forward to producing the chickens that will be supplied to the C-Joy plant to meet the poultry meat requirements of Jollibee. One thing I was impressed about is the biosecurity requirements to control food safety at every stage of production. They are surely raising the bar there,” said Mr. Vic Lao, President of Highcrest Corporation, a partner-grower of C-Joy. “We have already built a strong relationship with C-Joy and the executives from Cargill that we have met, and I am assured that this partnership will be a successful one for all parties.”
Sto. Tomas Mayor Sanchez hailed the positive contribution the Cargill and Jollibee investment will have on the local communities in Sto. Tomas, the province of Batangas and nearby provinces, strengthening the local economy.
“We hope that this plant will eventually provide and augment work and business opportunities to poultry growers, allied services and qualified Tomasinos alike,” said Mayor Sanchez. “We are looking forward to more effective and enhanced partnership between this municipality and soon to be city of Sto. Tomas and C-Joy in providing high quality and safe food products and most prominently in improving the general welfare of the community.”
US Ambassador Kim viewed the continued investments from Cargill in the Philippines as an example of the strong economic relationship between the United States and the Philippines. The Philippines was the first country where Cargill established its presence in Asia back in 1948.
“We are proud that US companies like Cargill make investments that strengthen the economic partnership between our two countries and contribute to the economic development of the Philippines by providing livelihood opportunities, particularly in rural areas,” said the US ambassador.
JFC Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong reiterated what he said in May 2016 when JFC and Cargill forged an agreement to form a joint venture to build and operate a poultry processing plant: “We partnered with Cargill to deliver high-quality chicken products through Cargill’s technology and quality standards. The facility will provide JFC with dressed and marinated chicken to augment the chicken supply requirements of the growing needs of JFC brands. This partnership will meaningfully benefit our customers, our operations as well as the overall Philippine food industry. We will continue to maintain our strong relationship with key chicken suppliers in the country and look forward to sustained long-term supply arrangements with them as our businesses grow together.”