Cebu Pacific (CEB), the Philippines’ largest national carrier, continues to fly Philippine produce and goods via its direct flights to the UAE amidst the current pandemic.
In its steadfast commitment to serving the Filipinos in the UAE including in months with stern movement restrictions, CEB has conducted 12 cargo flights from the second and third half 2020 (Q2 to Q3 of 2020) for Manila to Dubai and vice versa. Prior to the onset of the global health crisis, the airline had operated in first quarter (Q1 of 2020) 75 cargo flights on the same route for the export of food commodities from the Philippines.
According to the cargo data released by CEB from January to September 2020, the UAE is one of the top global export destinations of the airline for Philippine produce. Of the total 37,405 kilograms of fruit exported to various international destinations, 29 percent or a total of 10,674 kilograms were delivered to Dubai. It ranked second to Hong Kong, where the airline delivered 55 per cent or a total of 20,641 kilograms of fruit in the same period.
The Philippine mango topped CEB’s list of most exported fruits, amounting to 27,132 kilograms. This was followed by Philippine lime or calamansi, soursop or guyabano, sapota or chico, and turnip or singkamas at 6,178 kilograms.
According to Charmaine Yalong, Commercial Attaché of Philippine Trade and Investment Centre (PTIC) of the Department of Trade and Industry, the increasing demand for Filipino food products in the UAE may be attributed to the high disposable incomes of consumers, primarily owing to the large presence of Filipinos in the country, as well as the growing proportion of Filipino brands being mainstreamed in the market.
“The continued support to Philippine exporters, through trade referrals and organization of Philippine participation in trade exhibitions and outbound business missions, contributed to the increasing presence of Philippine products in the UAE. As such, aside from gratifying the cravings of our kababayans for native Philippine products, the cosmopolitan tastes of locals and expatriates in the UAE are now being catered to as well. A wide range of these products are now available side-by-side with other products from Asia, Europe and the United States in the shelves of supermarkets here in the UAE,” Yalong said.
Yalong highlighted that during the first half of 2020, Philippine food exports to UAE has seen sustained growth. Aside from fruits, the Philippines saw an uptick trend on the export of its processed food and beverages to the UAE which accounted for a whopping US$20.86 million or AED76.61 million. Also on the list were pineapple and by-products, US$14.02 million; fresh bananas, US$12.9 million; tuna, US$3.3 million; and fresh/processed fish, US$0.59 million.