San Miguel donates flour for pandesal production

SMC president Ramon S. Ang PHOTO FROM SANMIGUEL.COM.PH

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is deploying flour to local government units (LGUs) and bakeries around Metro Manila to help keep small businesses afloat and ensure food supply to communities in need.

SMC has so far donated over 8,400 sacks of flour to LGUs and bakers, enough to produce about 13.44 million pieces of pandesal.

A 25-kilogram bag of flour can make about 1,600 pieces of pandesal.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the donation of flour, the main ingredient in making bread, would supplement the food rations of LGUs and provide added nutrition to citizens amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The local government units need all the support they can get in making sure that their citizens do not go hungry and are free from illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from our food donations, we’re providing them flour for them to bake bread,” Ang said.

This, he added, would also provide some relief to small bakers struggling to stay afloat.
The flour donations were distributed to Manila, Caloocan, Las Pinas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela, Pateros. Outside of Metro Manila, SMC has also donated to Batangas, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija as well as to four army camps and two non-government organizations.

Many of the LGUs have started partnering with their local bakeshops to produce pandesal, nutribun and other kinds of bread to be sold at a discount to their constituents. Bread was also produced for distribution to impoverished communities as well as frontliners, including medical workers who are serving at local hospitals.

He cited as examples the cities of Navotas, which distributed SMC’s flour donations to 32 bakeries in exchange for discounted bread sold to its residents, and Valenzuela, which engaged local bakeries to make bread to be distributed for free to frontliners.

“By engaging the local bakeshops, we are also helping sustain these small businesses that were affected by the lockdown and have experienced loss of income. We will devise more ways to make sure that food donations will be available to everybody and to those who need it most,” Ang said. 

Apart from Metro Manila, SMC has also started donating flour to cities and barangays in the neighboring provinces of Batangas and Bulacan.

Ang reiterated that SMC would continue to help the national government and the LGUs in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring stable supply of food in groceries, supermarkets, wet markets, and other distribution channels.

At the start of the lockdown, SMC assured the public that it had sufficient stocks to last for at least six months, and that its plants would run ‪24/7‬.

On a daily basis, SMC produces 2.11 million kilograms of flour/baked goods (flour, biscuits, pandesal, and nutribuns); 1.96 million kilograms of fresh meats (poultry, beef, and pork); and 524,000 kilograms of processed meats (canned meat, nuggets, and hotdogs).

“Once again, we want to assure our kababayans that food supply is stable and there is no need to hoard. While we are doing this, we are also keeping in mind those who do not have enough money to support themselves and their families,” he said.

To date, SMC has donated a total of P220 million worth of canned goods, meat products, biscuits, bread, and coffee, for distribution to depressed communities through the LGUs, non-profit organizations, charitable institutions, and church-based groups.

It has also doubled its commitment to donate 500,000 kilos of rice and has so far sourced 1.1 million kilos of rice worth P38 million for delivery to beneficiary communities and families.