DO YOU KNOW the life span of a can of sardines?

From the time the fish were processed for canning, the sardines are good for three years without getting spoiled.

No wonder, sardines are one of the most popular canned foods among Filipinos and a leading source of protein. But the processing of sardines has evolved. Gone are the days when a fishing crew would manually shovel the catch from the sea. The tubs or banyera are no longer used.

Mega Fishing Corporation (MFC), manufacturers of Mega Sardines, is the first company in Asia to use the multi-million-peso fish pump technology from the US or the vacuum and suction pressure process.

?We strive to maximize the quality and freshness of the fish,? informs Mark Tiu Lim, vice president for sales and marketing of Mega Fishing Corporation. ?Quality control starts immediately from the suction process. Then, we use high quality plastic thermal bins to maintain fish temperature at zero degrees centigrade to transport the raw fish from the sea to the plant.?

These modern transshipment and off-loading operations, according to plant manager Ronnel Castelo, are being used to prevent the buildup of histamine, which causes the fish to lose their freshness. To meet international requirements, the process also makes for minimal spoilage of fish and allows the company to increase production.

Producing an average of 600,000 cans per day, MFC guarantees that processing Mega Sardines takes only less than 12 hours from ?catching to canning,? thus ensuring high quality and freshness of the product.

A recent visit to the Mega Sardines processing plant in Zamboanga City allowed us to witness the work in the sardine-making facility, which applies only the stringest methods for its employees and high-performance machinery. The highly sanitized canning plant has been ISO-certified.

?This is the only sardines plant that is open to the public,? Mark beams. ?We accommodate anyone who comes here and requests for a tour. We are usually visited by students and other private groups interested to see how sardines are made.?

Daily, around 40,000 tons of pillchards (tamban), a member of the herring family, are vacuumed out of the ships? nets at the catch site and pumped directly into holding tanks of chilled sea water. The fish are off-loaded at the port using a suction-pressure pump and transported in huge polyurethane-insulated containers from the MFC fishing port in Cawit, Zamboanga, to the processing plant in Ayala.

The catch comes from the 55 deep-sea fishing vessels owned by MFC that comb fishing grounds in Sulu. The commercial fleet consists of catchers, carriers, lightboats, sonar and skiff boats. The sonar boats give the company the competitive edge to locate more fish, as MFC also supplies raw products to canning companies and fish markets in Manila and Mindanao provinces.

Better texture, taste

In the plant, the fish are cleaned and scaled, giving them better texture and taste?another advantage of the company over its competitors. The heads and tails are removed, but never wasted. MFC built a seven-hectare dry fish meal factory in Talisayan, with top-of-the-line steam tanks that process fish meal for export.

Once the sardines are canned, the nutritious sauce rich in protein, minerals, vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids is poured into the containers. This potent and healthy formula helps maintain a good heart and lowers blood cholesterol level.

The use of Omega 3 also explains the now-popular tagline of Mega Sardines, ?Tatak Puso, Para sa Puso,? being used in its TV commercial and marketing collaterals. Actor, TV host and director Cesar Montano has been endorsing the product for eight years now and appears in its latest TV commercial.

The cans are later weighed, sealed and cooked in high-pressure machines for more than an hour. After cooling down, the sardines are sorted and boxed for storage and delivery.

To support the fishing operations, MFC saw the need to have its own ice plant. To date, the company owns two ice-making facilities capable of producing 600 tons of ice a day?considered as the biggest in Mindanao.

Continuously buoyed up by its goal to provide consumer satisfaction with quality products at affordable prices, MFC is able to introduce to the local market the Mega Sardines handy pouch, said to be ?the very first in the world,? according to Mark.

Mega Sardines is able to expand its operations and is exporting products to 23 countries including the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Guam, Sweden and Hong Kong.

?Being a neophyte in the canned sardines market has not been an obstacle for us in achieving our goals to be number one,? Mark says.

To compete globally with international product standards and quality, Mega Sardines is accredited with the European Union (EU), compliant with HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The brand has won five consecutive awards as ?Most Outstanding Sardines.?

As vice president for sales and marketing of the family corporation, Mark goes around the country to monitor revenues. When he?s on the road, he stops by sari-sari stores to check if MFC products are there.

?My strongest gauge is when I see our products being sold in sari-sari stores around the country,? Mark declares. ?We want to be available not just in leading supermarkets, but even down to the small retail stores.?

MFC employs over 1,600 workers both in sea and land-based operations, contributing largely to the P3-billion sardine fishing and processing industry in Zamboanga City.