Marketing Your Produce: Major Wholesale Markets (Bagsakan) in Metro Manila

image of Asuncion Market, Tondo Manila

 

You finally decided to venture in Agribusiness. You have done your homework, took the relevant trainings and seminars, you selected the site and crops that you will produce but still do not know where to dispose your produce. 

Alternatively, maybe you just want to be a retailer and want to know where to get wholesale vegetable supplies.

Here are the major markets (bagsakan) in Metro Manila where you can sell your produce wholesale.

The Divisoria Terminal Market is the largest and considered the main market in Metro Manila.  Viajeros from the provinces bring their commodities directly to divisoria markets. It trades all the commodities and provide the necessary volume to traders and the medium and large retail markets in metro manila and nearby provinces. Other wholesale markets in Metro Manila include Valenzuela, Balintawak, Nepa Q-mart, Blumentritt, Paco, Mutyang Pasig and New Muntinlupa. These markets purchase considerable volume of commodities from the Divisoria Market.

The Divisoria Terminal Market

The Divisoria Terminal Market is located in Tondo, Manila, which is a major commercial district. Its proximity to transport/exit points favors the bulk trading of agricultural commodities. It is near the North Harbor, which is a major entry point from the Visayas and Mindanao. It is also highly accessible from the southern and northern Luzon provinces.

The Divisoria serves as a drop off point for fruits and vegetables to Viajeros. It follows product segmentation and specialization whereby commodities are identified by the traders' provincial origin.

Divisoria has four major markets, namely:

1. 1. Asuncion Market
   Located at the corners of Asuncion and Zaragoza Streets, which handles the wholesaling of fruits and root crops.
2. Padre Rada Market
   Bounded by Asuncion, Zaballa and Santo Cristo streets, which comprise of two concrete structures:
   - Building I - wholesale site for tomatoes and sweet potatoes
   - Building II - wholesale market for tropical vegetables like eggplant, squash, string beans, green papaya, leafy vegetables, calamansi onions and ginger.
3. El Cano Public Market
   Along El Cano Street, primarily a wet market for fish and meat
4. Divisoria Public Market
   The old market structure occupying 9,000 sqm. I is a retail center for vegetables, a wholesale and retail market for fruits and wholesale market for plastic toys and native products.

Valenzuela Wholesale Market

Valenzuela Wholesale Market, formerly a Kadiwa Center, was establish by an NFA initiated project. The Valenzuela Market is considered a bagsakan or terminal area. Because of its accessibility via McArthur highway increasing numbers of cooperative members (farmers) bring their produce to this market. This has resulted in a slowing turnover of commodities and congestion due to traders’ prolonged stay (2 to 3 days) while waiting for the sale of their commodities.

Its traders are mostly cooperatives from Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, Bulacan, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. Its buyers are retailers from Meycauayan, Malolos and some parts of Valenzuela such as Marulas, Polo, Malinta and Paco de Blas as well as consumers from within the vicinity. The market has wet section for both meat and fish and a dry goods section. The vegetable section occupies 65% of the total market area, fruit stalls are found in front of the building. Price information, following the prevailing prices in Divisoria is posted on the bulletin board for easy reference for farmers/traders and buyers.

Balintawak Market

The Balintawak Market is along EDSA, a major thoroughfare in Quezon City Metro Manila comprises some 11 submarkets adjacent to each other but independently owned by individuals or corporations. These are Cloverleaf, Family, Gaiety, MC, Riverview, Riverview II, North Diversion Extension, EDSA Produce, Pil Mart, and GO HO and Sons. All of them retail commodities except for Cloverleaf, Gaiety, and Riverview. These three have adequate space for bulk deliveries by viajeros so they are able to wholesale fruits and vegetables.

The Balintawak Market is accessible to various routes connecting North, Central, Southern and Eastern Metro Manila. Tropical fruits and vegetable originate from Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija in the northern part of Luzon and Batangas and Cavite in the southern part of Luzon. Temperate vegetables or gulay Baguio are delivered by truckloads by farmers from Benguet.

The Balintawak Market competes with the Divisoria Market in terms of volume of vegetables traded. Since it is accessible from various routes connecting north, central, southern and eastern part of Metro Manila, it has been able to obtain bulk supplies of fruits and vegetables. Small distributors and retailers from Nepa Q-Mart, Cubao, Pasig and other small markets in the northwest, northeast and central parts of Metro Manila buys fruit and vegetable from this market.

image of Balintawak Market Bagsakan

Nepa Q-Mart

Nepa Q-Mart is a four building facility in northeast Quezon City along EDSA in Metro Manila. The first building houses retail stores for dry goods, fruit and vegetables, rice, fish, meat and poultry. Fruit and vegetable traders occupy the second building. The third and fourth buildings serve as bagsakan for more fruits and vegetables.

At Nepa Q-Mart, some wholesaler obtain their produce from viajeros and provincial assemblers but most still come from the Divisoria Market. Institutional buyers of Nepa Q-Mart come from various areas: Farmers Market (South of Metro Manila), Mayflower Market (south of Metro Manila) Pasig Market (South of Metro Manila) Fairview Market and Marikina market. Fruit traders from Antipolo, Cainta and other municipalities of Rizal province also purchase their needs in Nepa Q-Mart

 

image of  Nepa Q-Mart from EDSA