ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/23 Nov) – A fruit company in Zamboanga del Norte has gotten the support of the Department of Science and Technology to boost its production capability.
Jill Cindy Cruz-Cañete, DOST-9 information officer, said Friday that the DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) is backing Polyfruits, Inc., which produces dried green and yellow mango, pickled mango, mango concentrate, calamansi concentrate and durian jam.
Polyfruits’ farm is situated in Sinanga, Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte. Another fruit company in Polanco, the tablea-producing Roteo Farm, earlier availed of a similar package.
Cañete said Polyfruits will receive assistance that include system improvement through the acquisition of additional equipment such as cooling tank, pasteurizer and industrial type stick blender.
She said they will also provide assistance in terms of product packaging and labeling and training on food safety and basic sanitation and hygiene.
Through DOST’s SETUP, Cañete said that Polyfruits is expected to improve its product quality, increase productivity as well as income.
SETUP, a flagship program of DOST, is a nationwide strategy to encourage and assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in implementing technological innovations and improvements in their operations to boost their productivity and competitiveness.
Cañete said Polyfruits has sought the assistance of the DOST as the firm aims to widen its market scope and increase production capability by upgrading their existing processing plant.
The abundance of fresh tropical fruits in Mindanao and the lack of fruit processing plants have inspired the incorporators of Polyfruits to set up one in 2005.
