Queenie Gene Gadong Submitted by: March 10, 2011

Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation Company Tour

I. Introduction

Philippine Foremost Milling Company started as La Filipina Uyongco Co. pioneered by Don Alfonso Uy. The company objective was to attain a harmonious relationship between the flour millers and its partners to produce the best quality flour products. The company construction started in 1989 in Brgy. Lapuz, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines and by 1990 it began its operations as the first flour mill plant in Western Visayas. The PFMC feeds mill started production in 1994, as the most-modern feed mill in Western Visayas.

The company believes that only the purest and the best quality flours would bring out the best taste, and so they use only the best and the purest wheat from Canada, Australia, and USA. The company strives to further product quality and company services through research and development. Presently the company Chief Executive Officer is Mrs. Aileen Christel U. Ongkauko and Engr. Alfonso Uy acts as the chairman of the company board of directors.

The company proudly boasts of an ISO 22000:2005 certification, they also have the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification, HALAL and Sangkap Pinoy seal.

“ISO22000:2005 Certified. Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation is the first flourmill in the Philippines to receive ISO2200:2005 FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (FSMS) certification.  ISO22000:2005 is the latest and highest internationally recognized standard specifically designed for food manufacturing industry.” (www.philforemost.com/aboutus.htm)

PFMC places a huge importance into their product quality and more importantly on the food safety policy.

PFMC Quality and Food Safety Policy

We the proud members of PFMC commit ourselvesTo create maximum Value for users of our brandTo produce the best quality and safest productTo provide exemplary services to satisfaction of our loyal partners andto advance the industry standards through education.

We will forge ahead Forever unwavering in our resolve Continuously as a team Fine tuning PFMC’s systems through continual improvement

Training ourselves to be technically competentRelentlessly undertaking cutting edge research and developmentComplying with the regulatory and statutory and regulatory requirements andTo be at the forefront of market trends.

We believe that,Together nothing is impossible Together we will achieve all goalsTogether we are number one.

PFMC also provide the consumers additional sources of essential vitamins. Their products are enriched with Thiamine, Niacin, Riboflavin, Iron, fortified with Vitamin A, and the product is kept Bromate free.

In accordance to the company policy to provide the best quality and service to its customers, PFMC has a number of division, each of which has specific functions and goals. Aside from the administrative division, the human resources, the PFMC has a Research and Development division, where some tests for Quality control are also performed and product quality is checked. The production area and storage rooms largely comprise the PFMC infrastructures, employing a total of 25 regular employees.

As of now the company boasts of different varieties of flour for different cooking needs and poultry, aqua, and hog feeds. PFMC produces Hard Wheat flour, Soft Wheat, Cake Flour, All Purpose Flour and even Custom Made flour. Montana Spring, Dakota Champion, Washington Flour, Snow Silk, Gold Key, Amigo, and All Purpose Family are the company brands for their different flour varieties. Company brands for their hog feeds, poultry and aqua feeds include the Amigo, Excel, and Lechon Feeds.

The PFMC sustain the flour and feeds needs of the Western Visayas region and the whole of the Philippines and it also exports in some parts of Asia.

The PFMC flour mill produced 400 tons of flour per day from December of 1990. Production was reduced from the month of May in 1993 to only 220 tons per day. As of February 1996 flour production increased to 300 tons per day. As of present the flour mill produces an average of 4000 tons/8 hrs. or 24000 tons/24 hrs. The feed produced by the PFMC fluctuated from 18000 tons/day in November of 1990 to the 14000 tons/day on November of 1993 to only 240 tons/day during the June of 1995.

II. Observations

To ensure that no contamination is present to the flour the mill was sealed by the closing of the windows and putting a plastic “curtain” in the door. The entrance of the people inside the mill is strictly monitored, possibly to trace the contaminant if ever there is one. Also upon entrance to the mill one should change into shoes not ever used outside of the mill, for the workers. For the visitors of the mill a shoe cap is requested, or in our case a modified shoe cap of plastic wrapper, must be used to prevent the dirt from the shoes in contaminating the products.

PFMC places a great deal of importance to their customers. They believe that the customers are their partners. And so PFMC hold seminars or baking courses. Also a close interaction with the feeds distributors is created by the company, providing incentives to inspire not only the distributers but also the growers. There is also a company veterinarian that helps the growers in their questions about their livestocks, and regular seminars are held for further education of the growers.

III. Equipment used

For the quality control checking of the flour and feeds product of the company several parameters were checked. The moisture of the feeds and flour are checked through the conventional method of using the oven. Microbiological analysis is also performed in the QC lab. A titration set-up was noticed when we toured the laboratory, possibly either for QC or a research on product development.

The sensory evaluation room was merged with the kitchen of the company baker. A random flour sample is tested for every batch. According to the Baker the flour is baked into different products to check the product quality. Standardized parameters such as the volume of the leavened bread, color, and flavor of the baked goods are measured. Deviations from the standardized parameters could mean compromised quality of the flour product, rendering the product less fit, or even unfit for use. In sensory evaluation the deviation of the additives (fortified vitamins and minerals) to the flour could sometimes also be checked in the quality of the baked goods. The equipment used in the SE room includes the standard baking tools, such as the table, flour mixer, molding trays and many more.

In the actual flour mill huge machineries are computerized. These machines are the ones who take care of the raw material from transport in the mill, to the cleaning, and the production of the wheat to the flour as final product, to the packaging and storage.

These are just some of the equipments used in the flour mill: Computer and control room Wheat Separator Magnetic Separator Stoner Conditioning Stage Scourer and aspirators Magnetic Aspirators Silos

IV. Conclusion and Recommendations

The company tour to the Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation was very educational. The concepts and theories in class we discussed were obviously practiced in the company.

The setting up of standards and specifications are established in the company to control and monitor the desired quality produced by the personnel. As have been discussed in the PFMC QC laboratory extensive tests are made to ensure that there is little or no significant deviation of the product from the given specifications, and so it was the QC personnel’s major function, to determine the product’s deviation from these specifications and when necessary make the needed changes to control the quality of the product at the desired level.

An example of the flour specifications given for the hard wheat flour is:

Protein 14% mb 11.2% - 11.9%Ash 13% mb 0.390 maximumMoisture (packed) 13.3% - 14.0%Crude Wet Gluten 34% - 38%

The importance of the wheat cultivar was proudly presented by the company by only limiting their wheat raw materials from recognized fields of the world, USA, Canada, and Australia

In the PFMC QC laboratory the different methods in determining the product quality is used, Subjective and Objective method. The use of the sensory evaluation and the recognizance of the consumer acceptance method were observed. The physical, chemical, and the microanalytical methods are also employed.

The prevention of contamination of extraneous materials in food products whether considered harmful or not, are greatly monitored. The very important aspect of food safety is implied. The PFMC also consider the presence of foreign materials as an indication of poor sanitation and in essence poor quality control.