Partnership to address malnutrition, one child at a time

MANILA, Philippines – About 94 percent of Filipino children are calcium-deficient, studies show, highlighting the need for sustained access to milk and other nutrient-rich food during the early learning years.

With this in mind, the government and the private sector have teamed up for a milk feeding program in Laguna aimed at addressing malnutrition, one child at a time.

READ: Marcos to local leaders: Break cycle of malnutrition in your area

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The National Dairy Authority (NDA), the Department of Education, ABI Pascual Foods Inc. and the city government of Sta. Rosa unveiled a 100-day milk feeding initiative to improve the nutrition of public school learners.

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Starting September, the program will provide milk products to 500 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 at Malitlit Elementary School in the municipality.

Participating students will receive daily milk servings throughout the milk feeding program, allowing government agencies to properly evaluate their growth and health outcomes.

ABI Pascual Foods, the dairy business of tycoon Lucio Tan, has become the first private-sector partner in the NDA’s milk feeding program.

“This helps the private sector be involved and engaged in terms of not only providing milk nutrition to our children but also helping the farmers by buying the produce of the local farmers,” ABI Pascual Foods board member Michael Tan says.

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The Philippines remains heavily dependent on dairy imports to meet its increasing demand. Domestic production accounts for more than 1 percent of the country’s dairy requirements.

“We see this as a long-term investment in both child development and the local dairy industry, made possible through strong collaboration with government partners,” Tan says.

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NDA Administrator Marcus Antonius Andaya says the partnership will serve as a model for future partnerships, as the agency hopes to engage other big corporations in this initiative.

“By working with committed private sector partners, we are able to expand access to milk feeding programs while creating more stable opportunities for Filipino dairy farmers,” Andaya says.

“We hope the support of ABI Pascual to NDA and the program will snowball that when other corporations see it, instead of other gift-giving, why not make CSR (corporate social responsibility) into milk feeding programs?”

Tan is hopeful that other companies will follow suit in incorporating the national milk feeding program into their CSR initiatives.

Yogurt plan coming soon

In support of the Philippine dairy sector, ABI Pascual Foods is targeting to begin operations of its P1-billion yogurt plant in Cabuyao, Laguna by the third quarter of 2027.

Tan says the company is on track to complete the facility, which is right beside Asia Brewery manufacturing complex.

“We already ordered the equipment being made. Facilities [are] being prepared,” Tan says. “When the equipment comes, we just assemble it.”

The yogurt facility is considered the first of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It is seen to allow ABI Pascual Foods to produce shelf-stable and long-life yogurt and eventually export to other markets in the region.

For now, the company has no plan to build another yogurt plant, although Tan hints at a second phase of expansion, “most likely in the same area.”

ABI Pascual Foods is also looking to build its own dairy farm and source fresh milk from local farmers.

As part of its benchmarking efforts, the Tan-led company visited the NDA’s stock farm in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija to study dairy farming and explore opportunities to apply international best practices in farm management.

READ: NDA ‘very optimistic’ dairy production will increase by 22.4%

The NDA wants to develop more stock farms that will breed and acclimatize imported dairy animals before distributing them to local farmers.

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“We are actually looking into the possibility that we will be engaged in a public-private partnership when it comes to stock farms,” Andaya says. INQ