By IRMA ISIP

AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) targets sales of P5 billion by 2010 as it expects sales of P3 billion this year from P1.5 billion last year.

ANI chief operating officer Dennis S. Sia said that the company plans to increase exports from current 20-30 percent of sales to 50 percent.

ANI is a joint venture between Filipinos and Taiwanese investors. It sells fresh produce to the SM group of supermarkets and other retailers.

ANI also plans to raise P1 billion in the local stock market and plans another listing in a regional bourse.

ANI’s biggest sales contributor is Fresh Choice Always which last year contributed one third of total sales or P500 million.

Sia said at the sidelines of the launch of its FCA veggie cart entrepreneurial project that the company is the first local predominantly fresh produce company to tap the stock market.

Sia said a follow-on offering would be made at the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2009 where the company would offer 15 to 20 percent of its principal shares or 40 million shares at P25 per stock.

Sia said proceeds from the offering would be used for its farming, marketing and sales expansion.

Sia said instead of straight public offering, ANI is listing by way of introduction this year due to poor market conditions but he said this is but a first step towards its fund raising.

"Listing has benefits. We will be known internationally and we will be able to tie up with big companies," Sia said.

But he said ANI continues to be bullish since in a financial crisis, people stick to the basics, one of them being food.

"Technology, real estate, banking and finance are all doing bad but not agriculture which is still the backbone of the economy," Sia said.

As part of its expansion, ANI’s subsidiary FCA launched the franchising concept of a veggie cart for P100,000 each.

Sia said FCA plans to put up 20 carts initially in Quezon City and spreading to other parts of Metro Manila. The FCA brand are supplied to SM supermarkets and hypermarkets and Makro.

"Branded vegetables have gained acceptance in the market. That is why we want to create a brand equity," Sia said.

ANI will also put up wet market style "bagsakan" or fresh produce depots in Metro Manila next year for the upper and middle class communities.

Sia said ANI also continues to join international trade fairs to beef up exports. Currently, ANI is exporting to the Middle East, the United States, Japan and Canada.

About 80 percent of ANI’s sales are vegetables, with daily sales volume of over 100,000 tons of fresh vegetables. Currently, it is also the biggest exporter of mangoes.

The ANI group has agricultural farms in various parts of the country, including those in Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Zambales, and Benguet and, in the south, Bohol, Davao, and Jolo, among others. Its packing and distribution center is located in Pulilan, Bulacan while its warehouse facilities are in Arayat, Pampanga.

ANI has three subsidiaries under its fresh foods group: First Class Agriculture (FCA), Fresh and Green (FG) and Lucky Fruit and Vegetables (LF). For its processed foods group, ANI manages three companies: M2000 Imex in Bulacan, Fruitilicious in Cagayan de Oro, and Nutri-licious Marketing in Pateros, Metro Manila.

As part of its full integration, ANI manages Best Choice Harvest a subsidiary engaged in the management of farming activities in various provinces to serve the supply needs of ANI’s distribution subsidiaries.

FCA is engaged in the commercial distribution of fresh vegetables and fruits to the SM Supermarket chain supplying more than 100 varieties of vegetables and local fruits daily to 16 branches in Metro Manila and some provinces in Luzon.