Processing and Marketing of Salinas Tuyo and Tinapa in Balanga City, Bataan

Abstract

This paper aimed to: (1) identify the participants who create various utilities for two products that Balanga City is known for, namely, dried and smoked Salinas or Tunsoy (Sardinella fimbriata), locally known as tuyo and tinapa respectively; (2) determine the costs and returns of these two products; (3) compute for their gross margins or marketing margins and assess whether their sizes are justified by the utilities created for them; (4) describe and illustrate the marketing channels of the two products; and (5) discuss the problems being faced by the participants. The primary data that the study required were obtained through interviews with the aid of a questionnaire. All the 50 participants of the study were identified by the officials of Puerto Rivas Ibaba – the barangay or village in Balanga City where all the tuyo and tinapa in the city are made. The study found that: (1) there are 30 tuyo and tinapa processors/wholesalers and 20 retailers in the city, the former create form, possession, and time utilities while the latter create possession utility only; (2) when gross margins as percentages of total returns and marketing/variables costs are computed, tuyo processing/ wholesaling turns out to be more profitable than tinapa; processing/wholesaling, however, is a more profitable enterprise than retailing; (3) the gross margin or marketing margin of tuyo is P60/kg while that of tinapa is P40/kg. The bigger marketing margin of tuyo as compared to that of tinapa is justified by the longer shelf life or time utility that is created by the sun drying process of tuyo; (4) the marketing channels of tuyo and tinapa in Balanga City, Bataan, are identical. Sixty seven percent of these products pass through the 20 retailers at the Balanga City Public Market while 33% are handled by the retailers from the other provinces of Luzon; and (5) the problems being faced by the participants are mostly about their compliance with government regulations and their perceived lack of support from their local government unit.