The salt that residents buy from vendors at the Virac Public Market and elsewhere on the island are no longer rock salt but iodized salt imported from abroad.
One of the vendors at the market told the Tribune that every Tuesday, a certain Mr. Yu from the Bicol mainland arrives at the market with a truckload of salt contained in 39-kilogram sacks sold at P330 per sack.
The largest customer at the market buys about 20 sacks of Master Chef Rock Salt KIO3 while the small vendors commonly purchase only a sack of two to be repacked into small packs sold at P10 to P15 each or by heaps on cups or “Veedol” plastic containers.
According to the vendors, one sack usually translates into a P400 income after a week.
Master Chef is one of the multiple brands marketed by Arvin International Marketing, Inc., which is the largest importer and distributor of salt in the Philippines, accounting for about 70 percent of the salt industry.
Import data from the government indicate that about 1,300 foreign exporters supply salt to more than 900 buyers in the country, providing stiff competition for local salt producers like Salinas Foods, Inc.
The family-owned Salinas had a separate production area in Bolinao producing a total of 40,000 metric tons of industrial salt and 10,000 MT of commercial salt annually.
According to a 2022 study entitled “Status of the Salt Industry in the Philippines: Production, Challenges,
and Opportunities” conducted by Ulysses M. Montojo, Riza Jane S. Banicod, Bernajocele Jalyn S. Baldoza, Gezelle C. Tadifa, Bryan E. Tanyag, Christine Ann S. Tila, and Lilian C. Garcia, all of the Fisheries Postharvest Research and Development Division, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute in Quezon City, the province of Occidental Mindoro in the MIMAROPA Region contributed to 57.43% of the local salt output.
Its strategic geographic location and favorable climate created an optimal environment for salt production, with its 38 salt producers generating 62.5 MT of salt annually on 1,400 hectares of salt farms.
It noted that the sole association engaged in salt production within the Bicol Region ceased operation in 2020, five years after it started through the provision of salt production inputs such as PEP sheets from the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO).
The production period spanned from April to August, yielding an average monthly capacity of 100 kg. The report, however, did not state if the process integrated iodization.
Salt is produced in the country through four methods, the researchers said: (1) solar evaporation method in ponds, (2) solar evaporation using PEP sheets, (3) cooking method, and (4) artisanal salt production.
In certain provinces such as Catanduanes, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, and Misamis Oriental, salt producers employ Polyethylene Plastic (PEP) sheets in dried-up ponds or on shores to create salt beds.
“For instance, in Catanduanes, the standard size is 4 m x 3 m, with a production capacity of 8.0 kg per bed,” the study found. “Subsistence and small-scale producers resort to PEP sheets because they are cheaper, readily available, and do not require earth-moving work.”
Cooking is an alternative approach that is particularly suitable even during the rainy season. In contrast to the solar evaporation method, which yields granulated and off-white salt crystals, the cooked salt boasts a finer texture and pristine white color.
The researchers disclosed that salt producers in Negros Oriental, Zamboanga City, and Catanduanes, which all belong to Type III and IV climates, respectively, have already ceased operation due to unpredictable weather patterns.
Type III climate is characterized by no pronounced rainy seasons and a relatively short dry season lasting only from one to three months, while Type IV climate has no dry season with rains evenly distributed throughout the year.
The study indicated that salt production using the solar evaporation method is ideal only in provinces with Type 1 climate such as Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, parts of Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Antique.
The Type 1 climate is characterized by two pronounced seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.
“Apart from limiting the productivity of salt farms, heavy and excessive rains cause submergence or flooding of salt beds and damage to reservoirs and dikes, resulting in high repair and maintenance costs,” it said.
On the other hand, the scarcity of fuel such as rice hull and wood, poses a significant challenge for cooking methods while the need to comply with mandatory salt iodization has forced most small-scale producers to halt operations due to lack of training, funds or resources.
In 2018, DOST-ITDI, through their i-SALT project, developed salt processing equipment like the saturated brine feed reservoir, spin dryer, and iodizing machine to help salt processors boost their production, improve salt quality, and comply with the requirements of mandatory iodization.
However, researchers noted, salt production and storage facilities in some areas do not comply with regulatory standards in terms of food safety and sanitation, with salt beds often prone to contamination due to exposure to animal wastes, while majority of salt producers have no centralized and GMP-compliant warehouse for the storage of salt.
Data from the NFRDI showed that in 2024, locally produced salt accounts for only 7 percent of the country’s annual demand of 683,000 MT, while the remaining 93 percent is imported from countries such as Australia and China.
Among the priority areas listed as suitable for salt production were Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Quezon Province, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, and Misamis Oriental.
The selection criteria for suitability, according to NFRDI documents, were physical land variables (slope, land cover, distance from coastline, distance from rivers, soil type), meteorological factors (rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed), and supplementary factors (land classification, comprehensive land use plans, hazard susceptibility maps).