BPI unit ventures into agribusiness

MANILA, Philippines — A unit of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has forayed into the agribusiness sector acquiring a stake in Cagayan de Oro-based Advanced Protein Inc. (API) to support the growth of a sustainable food industry in the country.

Reggie Cariaso, president of BPI Capital Corp., told The STAR the bank’s equity infusion for a minority stake in API would be used to finance the company’s business plan for a few years. 

API is a waste management company run by professionals with extensive experience in the rendering business in Latin America. Rendering is a method of upcycling the meat by-products from our animal-based diets into protein meals and oils that are then used as natural ingredients in animal feed and pet food. 

In addition to reducing the demands on natural resources by repurposing the by-products, the company’s solutions also neutralize disease-causing microbes in residuals and keep them out of landfills where they can contribute to global warming, soil loading and water contamination.   

“API is helping the food and livestock industries, not only operate more efficiently, but also to minimize its environmental footprint. We see real potential in this business because we know this Philippine meat industry is growing with our economy and the rendering business has been under-invested so far,” he added.     

Cariaso said around four million chickens are slaughtered every day in the Philippines for food production, but the rendering capacity is only about 27 percent of the total chicken waste produced.