Pellegrino expands business with US military

Businessman Anthony Pellegrino started supplying the U.S. military commissaries on Guam with 135 lbs of local produce and 14 lbs of reef fish on Wednesday, just a few months after exporting fresh chilled shrimps to them.

Pellegrino is the first and only businessman from the CNMI to be able to supply fresh produce to the Guam military.

Through his Saipan SyAqua, Pellegrino also supplies shrimps to Guam’s commercial markets such as hotels and restaurants.

In yesterday’s opening of the two-day Economic Restoration Summit, Pellegrino said entrepreneurs should build up trust and confidence with the U.S. military if they want to do business with them.

He shared a story about a Rota farmer who supplied the U.S. military with rotten sweet potatoes that had been mixed with fresh ones.

“A key military official said they don’t want to do business with that farmer again. Trust is important. If you break that trust, you don’t get it back,” he said.

In another instance, the fishermen he was supposed to do business with failed to deliver fresh fish that was to be shipped to Guam.

In an interview, Pellegrino said he has seen entrepreneurs and others in the CNMI “who talk so much and do so little.”

“They just want to sit and ask for grants and let the government do it for them and open the doors for them…As I keep saying, I am your catalyst but I don’t want to be part of the program once it’s formalized. I will step back and give it to you,” said Pellegrino, who also founded the Marianas Trades Institute.

He said the economic summit was able to get the “feeling” of people about the economy and the potential for growth.

“I think it’s very healthy. But once we’re finished talking, get out that door, let’s do it, let’s act,” he said, adding that he put up most of his businesses with no help from the government. “I did it on my own. I had failures and I will have more failures but if you don’t fail you won’t succeed.”

The military, according to Pellegrino, presents a “huge potential” for farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs in the CNMI.

But he said the high freight cost of about 95 cents a pound and other charges is a major concern in shipping his fresh products to Guam.

“We are trying to get it down by 40 to 45 cents which I think we will be able to get with a charter flight. It’s still under negotiation,” he told Saipan Tribune after his presentation.

Pellegrino, described during the summit as the quintessential entrepreneur, is now also looking into producing organic food on Saipan, with Japan as the target market.