MANILA, Philippines -- On a 24-hectare property in San Fabian, Pangasinan, Apolonio “Pons” Tanjangco and his partner son, Jose Enrique, developed and built a prawn farm in 1997 to world-class specifications, completing it the following year with a view to penetrating the export market.
In the late 90s, however, world prawn prices plummeted, bringing with it dozens of like farms all over the country. The Tanjangco’s newly registered Integrated Prawn Farms, Inc. was not spared. Together with damages brought about by an earthquake that badly hit Dagupan in 1999, these put to risk more than P20 million of the IPFI assets.
Father and son were undaunted by the turn of events. To save the business, both decided to shift to fish farming, particularly, of the famous Bonuan ‘bangus’ variety.
The tasty milkfish is known to thrive only in ponds found in Bonuan and adjacent towns of Pangasinan, San Fabian included. “We realized our property was close enough to Bonuan be able to grow its famous milkfish,” says Pons.
In 2000, after restructuring their debt with Bank of Philippine Islands, the Tanjangcos formed Anjo Farms, bolted out of the prawn-raising business, and started seeding their farm with Bonuan fingerlings. In no time, they were harvesting the locally sought-after milkfish.
ADDING VALUE
But competition was keen, and with the continued increase in the cost of feeds, the newly-formed business was put to the test once again. “We decided to add value to the harvested fish, this time by processing it,” Pons said.
The milkfish were deboned and marinated or smoked. In 2001, Anjo Farms was not only gaining headway in the local market, but had also started exporting to the US, Hong Kong, Japan and Hawaii -- mostly countries where large communities of expatriate Filipinos lived.
The business thrived, something that Pons largely attributes to the high quality of products that have passed stringent quality standards of countries where the marinated and smoked ‘bangus’ are sold.
“We’re very proud of our processing plant,” Pons says. Aside from its HACCP and Halal certifications, Anjo Farms also secured an EU accreditation, all necessary requirements to gain headway in the export business. “We’re glad we put in a lot of effort in constructing a modern processing plant. The export market is very demanding as far as quality and sanitary conditions,” he adds.
(HACCP or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points certification was issued locally by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and the Halal stamp was given by the Philippine Office of Muslim Affairs.)
After cleaning and eviscerating the milkfish, deboning follows. Pons is proud of his workforce of about 80 people, many of whom are envied in other countries for the skill in extracting the fish bones with minimal damage to the meat.
The deboned ‘bangus’ that have been seasoned and marinated or smoked are then blast frozen and vacuum packed to seal in all the unique flavors and freshness that Bonuan milkfish is known for.
Anjo Farms is one of the very few companies in the Ilocos region (Region 1) that qualified to receive assistance from the government’s Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, a facility aimed at extending financial support to, among others, enable agribusiness entrepreneurs to compete in an extremely competitive and increasingly global agriculture market.
“We prepared a project proposal, did the paperwork, showed the DA people our facilities and existing farm. I think the fact that we were the only exporter in the region that could export our products to Europe clinched the deal,” says Pons.
TV DINNERS
With an ACEF no-interest loan of P12 million approved in 2005, Anjo Farms embarked on further expanding the business, never straying away from its vision to add more value to its produce but finding new forms of packaging milkfish for its consumers.
This time around, Anjo Farms banked on the market to patronize its new line of pre-cooked ready-to-eat ‘bangus’ dishes, some of which are takes of Filipino comfort foods like the ‘adobo,’ native sausage or ‘longganisa’ and ‘sisig.’ Others are inspired by the growing influence of fusion flavors such as teriyaki, barbeque and spring rolls.
Last year, as the peso strengthened vis-ŕ-vis the US dollar, Anjo Farms -- as with many of the country’s exporters -- decided to cop out of the export market to contain losses largely as a result of the currency fluctuations. “We’re now banking more on the local market to patronize out products,” says Pons.
Two years ago, Jose Enrique died of aneurism. “It was quite unexpected,” Pons said. The son and business partner, who Pons credits as the moving force behind Anjo Farm’s success, left a young wife and small children, and equally important, a father who was carrying on in age.
Albert Stephen or AS, a younger son, is now filling in the void. “I always remind my father that he should retire,” AS says. Pons agrees but in time. Understandably, it is hard to let go -- not only because of the memories left by Jose Enrique, but also because the business is on the threshold of a new life cycle. The challenge and excitement will just be too difficult to walk away from.
