Thus, it is only right that this story of
PHILPACK's 88 years of existence should be dedicated to the people that
made PHILPACK what it is today: the workers of the '20s, and through
the decades, many of them sons and daughters, and grandchildren of the
original Pioneers. They were the Filipinos and the Americans with the
zeal and courage to make that vision come true.Their
task was to prepare the ground, lay out the plots, ready the soil for
the seedlings from Hawaii, and nurture the plants to maturity. And they
succeeded. That first canning day in June 1930 provided the initial
proof of their success. The first four years of PHILPACK's existence had
coincided with a prosperous period (1925-1930) in Philippine Economy.In
Mindanao, the PHILPACK plantation and cannery activities were in full
swing. The company was apparently so satisfied with the state of its
pineapple operations that it could afford to consider broadening the
scope of its activities. Either that or it wanted to spread its risks,
bearing in mind the troubled U.S. economy.Pineapple
exports to the United States seesawed dramatically between 1931 to
1935: from 1.6M kilos in 1931 to 2.6M kilos in 1932, then dipping to
just a little over 1.4M kilos in 1933, up next to 3M kilos in 1934,
dropping down to 1.2M kilos in 1935.In
1937, the company's canned pineapple exports literally jumped to 11M
kilos valued at $1.7M. The improvement followed seven years of
struggling with depressed prices, which were results of an international
recession. REPRESENTING 20% OF THE WORLD'S PROCESSED PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION
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