Vinegar maker says giant firm making life sour

MANILA, Philippines – The Mindanao-based manufacturer of a popular vinegar brand, Suka Pinakurat, has sought the help of the House of Representatives against what it said were a giant firm’s allegedly unfair practices.

Rendo del Rosario, of the clan that owns Green Gold Gourmet Foods Inc. (GGGFI), the maker of Suka Pinakurat, accused Southeast Asia Food Inc. (SAFI) of alleged mimicking their brand name and threatening to wipe them out of the market.

SAFI products, such as the Datu Puti brand of condiments, Manag Tomas sauces and Golden Fiesta Cooking Oil, among others, are said to make up 60 to 70 percent of products on supermarket shelves.

At a press conference with Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño, Del Rosario said SAFI has produced a product similar to Suka Pinakurat, the Datu Puti Pinoy Kurat Spiced Tuba Vinegar.

“The normal situation is small players copy from the big players (but) here we have a situation where it is the big players who are copying from the small players,” he lamented.  “How can small players develop when they will be eaten up eventually by big players?”

Casiño, chairman of the committee on small business and entrepreneurship, has filed House Resolution 577 to investigate the purported violations of SAFI, which he said “infringes on the successes of small enterprises.”

“This is like Goliath vs. David, with SAFI using its market power to undermine GGGFI and the Intellectual Property Office acting as an accomplice,” the lawmaker said.

He said that Datu Puti Pinoy Kurat “appears to violate Section 123 of the Intellectual Property Code (Republic Act 8293) which states that ‘a mark cannot be registered if it is identical or confusingly similar
to an already registered mark. As such, it may be considered a trademark infringement, which is a form of unfair competition’.”

“What baffles me,” said Casiño, :”is while the Philippine Intellectual Property Office has yet to act on the application for registration of the Datu Puti Pinoy Kurat brand, SAFI is already flooding the market, resulting in lost sales and other detrimental effects on the original Suka Pinakurat. Government has yet to do something to protect our small players in the face of this clear case of unfair and illegal competition.”

Del Rosario said taking SAFI to court remains an option but acknowledged the reality that court cases take years, and could sap their firm’s resources.

Since it registered its Suka Pinakurat in 2006, Del Rosario said GGGFI has given employment to more than 100 people who manufacture the special variety of spiced vinegar.

“We don’t have big machinery, we only have blender and blower, which we use to seal the cap.  We don’t have grand marketing, only our good reputation,” Del Rosario said.

He said he hopes all these will not be lost because the government failed to protect the rights of small entrepreneurs in the country.