SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has urged consumers to complement the government's efforts and support the local farming industry by buying local produce.
AVA's CEO Tan Poh Hong said support from consumers for local produce, such as eggs, will help spur local farms to increase their production to meet bigger demand. This she said will in turn ensure the sustainability of local farms.
AVA said consumers
are assured of the quality and freshness of local produce, a result of
the stringent production and quality control procedures local farms
adhere to, as well as the short delivery time from farm to retail
outlets.
Ms Tan said: "While we have been looking at the supply
side, helping farmers to increase their productivity through technology
and extension services and so, we feel that it is also important to get
our consumers to support the local produce as well."
About 23 per
cent of eggs consumed in Singapore are produced locally and AVA's aim
is to increase that to 30 per cent. AVA said local production is an
important secondary strategy in ensuring food supply resilience for
Singapore.
To this end, the government will continue to promote
local farming, with the aim to raise self-sufficiency levels for eggs,
fish and leafy vegetables to 30 per cent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent
respectively.
The quality of eggs produced by local chicken layer farms is assured under AVA's Singapore Quality Egg Scheme (SQES).
This
voluntary quality assurance scheme was first introduced in 1999. All
three local chicken layer farms are currently registered under this
scheme.
Under SQES, local poultry layer farms are required to
ensure that their facilities are hygienic and quality control monitoring
systems are well maintained at all times.
The eggs produced
undergo monthly inspection and freshness tests by AVA to verify their
quality. The date of production and farm code are also stamped on every
egg to ensure traceability.
AVA, which has recently revised the
Singapore Quality Egg Scheme logo to increase its visibility and
highlight the quality of local eggs, is urging customers to look out for
the logo. And it seems to be working, with retail outlets here saying
the revised logo has helped.
Mui-Kok Kah Wei, Purchasing and
Merchandising Director with NTUC FairPrice, said: "Our local household
consumers who shop in supermarkets have a very high acceptance for local
eggs, and they value the quality and the safety assurance from AVA and
they value the freshness as well, and probably they put a lot of premium
on it being produced by local producers."
Currently about 45 per
cent of eggs at NTUC FairPrice, are locally sourced, and the
supermarket giant is hoping to increase this. However, FairPrice said it
would still offer eggs from other sources to diversify and to ensure
stability of supplies.
Ms Mui-Kok said: "We would always like to
support our local producers and if consumers accept these eggs, and the
local suppliers can cope with it, we certainly hope to increase the
supply.
"But having said that, we are in line with our
diversification strategies to ensure stability of supplies, we would
still want to balance the sources of supply for eggs."
Suppliers here are also stepping up production, with the help of AVA's S$10 million Food Farm grant last year.
Local chicken farm Seng Choon Farm said it has increased egg production from 300,000 to 400,000 since the grant.
Koh
Yeow Koon, MD of Seng Choon Farm, said: "For local eggs, because the
production is in Singapore, so definitely its faster to get to the
market, so in terms of freshness, its definitely a very fresh egg. With
freshness and quality, I think it is a good choice for consumers to pick
eggs from Singapore."
- CNA/cc/ac
I don't see why if the quality and price stay the same, that people won't buy local.
Factory eggs are factory eggs.