Assessing the Food Safety Culture and Management of Longganisa Processors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

Date

6-2023

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Melodee Marciana E. De Castro

Committee Member

Dinah Pura T. Depositario, Cherry Lou R. Nuñez, Gian Carlo U. De Jesus, Mar B. Cruz

Abstract

Longganisa production in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur plays a significant economic role in the province (Cervantes, 2021). It was recognized as the city’s “One Town, One Project” a project that promotes products and delicacies of various towns in the country. Despite the flourishing industry, it continues to face issues that hinder its growth and potential to reach wider markets. Among these issues are packaging, imitation of the product, lack of proper food safety policies, and the attitudes of the processors (Tee, n.d.). These problems have led the researcher to come up with the study that aims to assess the food safety culture and management of the longganisa processors in Vigan City. To be specific, the study aims to (1) present the profile of the longganisa enterprise, (2) describe the process flow and identify the critical control points of making longganisa, (3) assess the food safety culture existing among longganisa processors in Vigan City, (4) evaluate the degree of compliance done by the longganisa processors in Vigan City, and (5) provide recommendations to improve the existing food safety culture management.

This study interviewed all registered longganisa processors in Vigan City. The study involved surveying 60 participants, 30 of them are business owners and 30 of them are the employees. Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, and ocular observation. The information gathered from the likert- scale questionnaire was used to assess the food safety culture of the longganisa processors. For the checklist of the food safety practices, it determines if the enterprise is compliant with the food safety standards regulated by the Food Safety Act of 2013.

In terms of the business profile of the longganisa enterprises, all the 30 examined businesses are micro enterprises and operate as sole proprietorships. Majority of these enterprises are located in Brgy. V with 26.7% of the respondents. In addition, the average business operation period of the longganisa enterprises is 14.9 years. This indicates that most of the businesses have been in operation for a fair amount of time. The enterprises under study have plants ranging from 4 to 100 square meters. The mean numbers of employees for production, sales, and administration are 3.3, 1.5, and 1.2 respectively. This denotes that production teams are moderately sized, whereas the sales and administration are relatively small. In terms of their market, 29 out of 30 surveyed enterprises mostly transact with retailers. This implies the popularity of the said delicacy among consumers markets in the province. Lastly, among the 30 longganisa enterprises, 21 (70%) of them are members of a Food Processing Organization which is a good indicator that the industry is leaning towards networking opportunities that would support their businesses.

The process flow of the Vigan longganisa processor is formulated based on the gathered data from the examined enterprises. The processing involves procurement of raw materials, cutting of the meat, mixing the ingredients, stuffing of the ingredients into the casing, tying of the longganisa, air drying, packaging, and distributing to the markets. Vigan longganisa are packed in dozens using polyethylene plastic or a Styrofoam with a cling wrap and it can last up to six to ten months. The pricing strategy used by the enterprises is cost- plus pricing as this covers all the expenses with a reasonable profit that is enough for micro enterprises. Business owners make use of hybrid distribution channels. The market of the longganisa are the end consumers, retailers, repackers, institutional buyer, wholesaler. They make use of various promotional activities such as sales promotion, advertising, and word of mouth to make their products known by consumers. The human resource is responsible for making sure that the requirements needed to operate the business are met. In addition, it is also responsible for processing the wages ang salaries of the employees. Designation of tasks are shared among the production, marketing, and selling. However, more people are assigned to the production since work is more intensive. The revenue of the business was not disclosed during the interview, but the owners said that they use it to ensure the continuous operation and improvement of the business and salary of the employees.

In relation to the food safety practices of the enterprises, it can be inferred that both the business owners and employees have established specific measures to ensure safety and quality of the product. However, low frequency scores of ‘Yes’ can be seen on areas management and personnel, and packaging practices. This suggests that improvement should be done in this area. With regards to the food safety culture of the enterprises, assessment shows that the culture is based on the perception of the employees and the business owners. It can be inferred that the results shown on tables 9 and 10 are not fully reliable for the reason that there is a gap with the results of the table and the ocular observation of the researcher.

Based on the results, there is a gap in the dimension of management commitment among Vigan longganisa enterprises. Hence, it is recommended for the government institutions to do necessary interventions to assist Vigan longganisa players such as government funding and cash assistance, standardized processing procedure and regular seminars that tackle food safety.

As for the enterprise, the manufacturers should manage the production diligently to safeguard the process from the procurement of the raw materials up to the end consumers. It is also recommended for the business owners and employees to attend seminars and training and be continuous with their compliance with food safety protocols. Lastly, owners are highly encouraged to work closely with the government in establishing an organization solely for the longganisa processors in their province.

For the future study, it is suggested to have an in- depth investigation on the process flow of the processors, higher sample size, and to determine the association between the food safety culture and the food safety practices of the longganisa enterprise.

Language

English

LC Subject

Processed foods--Safety measures

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2023 M17 R43

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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