Island farmers learn about exporting produce to Guam

Farmers from the CNMI gathered yesterday at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan to learn about the possibility of selling their locally grown fruits and vegetables to commissaries on Guam once the military buildup takes place.

Larry Bentley, Zone manager for Guam’s Defense Commissary Agency, and Lynnwood Baker, representing Guam buyer JL Baker & Sons, spoke to the approximately 20 CNMI farmers about the necessary steps needed in order to create a partnership between the farmers and DeCA.

“This is a starting point for discussions for the buildup in Guam,” Bentley said. “We’re looking down the line. This will not happen next week or next month.”

Local businessman David Sablan organized the meeting with Bently and Baker.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Sablan told the farmers. “We cannot fail. We must succeed.”

The farmers must form an association and agree on prices for the commodities to be competitive against Guam farmers and farmers from the States, Sablan said.

“We need to organize ourselves, and say ‘this is what I’m growing,’” he said. “The price has to be uniform.”

The military will not go from individual farmer to individual farmer to buy produce, Sablan said.

“They will only be interested in dealing with one person,” he said.

During the meeting, some of the attendees raised questions about the additional costs to ship the produce to Guam

Additional costs would need to be considered, but in order to be competitive with Guam and mainland suppliers, the consumer should not absorb the costs, Baker said. He recommended negotiating with Freedom Air for a price break to transport the items.

“Coming from the States, the costs are not put on the consumer,” he said.

JL Baker & Sons imports 90 percent of their fruits and vegetables from the States, he said.

“The volumes [coming from Guam] at this time are still rather small,” he said.

The next step, Sablan said, is for the farmers to catalog the various produce they grow and list the item’s price, not including freight costs.

Vincent Calvo, the Secretary of the Rota Municipal Council, said he was interested in getting fellow Rota farmers involved in the project. Also, he said, he was going to invite Bentley and Baker to travel to the island to meet with Rota’s farmer co-op.

DeCA currently has two commissaries on Guam and plans to build an additional commissary to go along with the military buildup that will take place in 2012, bringing 8,000 personnel to Guam from Japan. DeCA is anticipating commissary sales to double to $9 to $10 million per year after the buildup, Bentley said.