The Philippine modern retail food market is expanding and growing at a fast rate. Similar retail food industry restructuring is also observed in other Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. This offers both an opportunity and a challenge to small-scale producers.

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On the other hand, the challenge is how to increase profitability and sustainability. It is recommended that small-scale producers be provided with credit and technical assistance to know which markets to prioritize. In this way, the restructuring will yield further benefits for them.

Another strategy is through branding wherein market/bargaining power of buyers is counteracted. However, there is no specific method to measure market power since market offers multi-products – this requires more data which may be difficult to gather.

This was discussed by Dr. Larry N. Digal during the special seminar held at Drilon Hall, SEARCA last Jan. 24, 2008. Dr. Digal is the dean of the School of Management at the University of the Philippines Mindanao. (Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMU)