Seafood brand links Mindanao fisherfolk to premium markets

By Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel, Reporter

A SEAFOOD enterprise is working to connect fisherfolk from Mindanao to premium seafood markets, with the aim of raising fisherfolk’s incomes, promote high-quality products, and improve traceability.

Founded in 2022, MINDANAW Seafood has grown from a two-person startup operating out of a studio apartment into a 26-member organization supplying seafood to institutional buyers and retail markets.

MINDANAW Seafood now offers about 30 seafood products sourced from fisherfolk and aquaculturists across mainland Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and Palawan. It primarily caters to institutional buyers such as hotels, restaurants, and catering businesses, particularly in the Greater Manila Area.

“That’s the market that traditional players from Mindanao find difficult to tap into,” Jerrhad H. Nadonza, co-founder and executive director of MINDANAW Seafood, told BusinessWorld.

Mr. Nadonza, a fisheries professional, said the company was established to unlock the potential of Mindanao fisheries, while addressing persistent challenges faced by producers, including low incomes and limited market access.

“It started both as a dream and as a protest,” he said.

While Mindanao supplies a significant share of the country’s seafood, he said it remains disconnected from its largest markets.

“We saw that there’s a greater potential for Mindanao seafood commodities,” he said. “If we look at the geography of our country, Mindanao is the farthest if we consider Metro Manila as the main market, which represents nearly three-quarters of the seafood demand.”

This gap has resulted in a long and costly supply chain, where seafood passes through multiple intermediaries before reaching consumers. According to Mr. Nadonza, this structure often erodes both product quality and producer earnings.

MINDANAW Seafood’s model focuses on improving this system by shortening the supply chain, strengthening post-harvest handling, and promoting traceability.

By linking fisherfolk and aquaculturists directly to buyers, the company reduces reliance on intermediaries, improves pricing for producers, and provides them with stable market access.

“For the longest time, many fall to predatory buyers,” Mr. Nadonza said. “Prices can be so low that they are sometimes even below production cost.”

He added that fisherfolk are often forced to sell quickly due to the perishable nature of their catch, leaving them with little bargaining power.

“Otherwise, their catch will spoil. And many are already tied to debt even before they go out to sea,” he said.

Mr. Nadonza said the brand’s approach is meant to challenge this system.

“It is a protest against that kind of system. We want to change it so that producers take the lead and receive a bigger share of the value,” he said.

Mr. Nadonza said the company also works to improve product quality, value addition, and shelf life through better post-harvest handling and basic processing, such as filleting and deboning.

At the community level, the company also encourages fisherfolk to organize into associations or cooperatives to consolidate supply.

“It’s difficult when it’s done in small volumes,” Mr. Nadonza said. “We encourage them to organize so they can achieve economies of scale.”

The company now moves about 80,000 kilos of seafood a month, all of which it says is locally sourced and traceable. Shrimp accounts for a significant portion of its volume, supported by a network of aquaculturists.

As operations scale up, Mr. Nadonza said MINDANAW Seafood has begun expanding beyond Metro Manila, with sales offices in North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, and Cebu.

But beyond its commercial operations, the company said it wants to be community-centered, with producers at the core of its business model.

“When we sell MINDANAW as a brand, we sell the stories of the communities we partner with. This is not about us. This is about the producers who are actually very dedicated to producing high-quality products,” Mr. Nadonza said.

Through its advocacy arm, Mapiya Mindanaw, the organization supports environmental protection, social inclusion, and research initiatives. These include programs for fishing communities, Indigenous Peoples, women, and LGBTQ+ groups.

Mr. Nadonza, who also serves as the social engagement head at Mapiya Mindanaw, said the advocacy arm is also funding research on seafood and new food systems.

As part of its environmental efforts, the company has also established a carbon sink and sequestration facility, planting about 17,000 trees as of the end of 2025, with a target of adding 10,000 more this year.

“Our goal is by 2030, we want to be the first net-zero seafood brand in the Philippines. We want to absorb more carbon than what we actually release,” Mr. Nadonza said.

Looking ahead, MINDANAW Seafood plans to expand into value-added products, including ready-to-eat seafood meals aimed at convenience stores and supermarkets.

Mr. Nadonza said the company also hopes to encourage more young Filipinos to enter the fisheries sector and adopt similar business models.

“We want to inspire more young entrepreneurs and startups to enter the seafood industry,” he said. “The Philippines is a large country with many producers and many mouths to feed. We cannot do this alone.”