Sectors did well, says Henao

IMPORT substitutes, fast-moving consumer goods and agriculture were the strongest performing sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown period, according to the PNG Business Council.
Council executive director Douveri Henao said there had been a massive uptick in consumption of goods from those sectors during the pandemic for example the Ilimo Dairy products that had seen a 30 to 40 per cent increase in consumption
Henao said they were quite concerned that during the shutdown and expatriates leaving the country, their products would drop but there had been a massive uptake in consumption.
Innovative Agro Industries (IAI) PNG chairman and director Ilan Weiss confirmed with The National that the Ilimo Dairy Farm, outside Port Moresby, had fared well so far this year, notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic and their growth resulted from the increasing support from customers switching from buying imported goods to locally produced products.
“Our growth resulted from the increasing loyalty of our PNG consumers who have supported our products and supported Ilimo Dairy as a PNG business, crafting products to Papua New Guinean by Papua New Guinean,” he said.
“We can see a clear trend in 2020 of consumers switching from imported products to our locally produced products.
“This relationship with the PNG consumer is paramount to the success of Ilimo Dairy. Being part of the food industry in Papua New Guinea, we have experienced the fluctuations and impacts brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the macro-economic conditions.
“We did our best to make adjustments that were required to mitigate potential adverse impacts.”
Henao added that similar stories were present for fast-moving consumer goods such as Maggie noodles, Flame flour and Coca-Cola.
“There’s been a huge uptake of consumption in those right across the country,” he said. Henao said, from a recent survey by the council, agriculture products had also seen a major increase in demand.
“It’s again indicative of the fact that the consumption patterns during this period has favoured domestic products,” he said.
“Whether it is because of import restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that definitely is a fantastic result in terms of the increase in the uptake of import substation businesses in the market.”