The Department of Trade and Industry is going to mediate between the warring canned tuna makers to enable both parties to settle their issues.

DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Cuison-Maglaya, who met the two warring camps – Foodsphere Inc. and Century Pacific Group – individually and separately said both parties are willing to sit down and talk.

According to Maglaya, the meeting gave each party a chance to comment on the letter sent by Foodsphere to DTI complaining about the marketing tool being implemented by Century.

But for the planned mediation, Maglaya said, both parties would get to face each other with the DTI as the third party.

No legal counsel from each side would be allowed during these mediation proceedings to avoid a court case.

“We want the market to be open to both of them and co-exist on a voluntary incentive scheme,” Maglaya said.

Maglaya added that in this competition, Century has its own marketing strategy and having been ahead in the market has enabled them to develop long standing relationships with distributors.

Foodsphere, a new player in the canned tuna industry and manufacturer of a new product called San Marino Corned Tuna, has accused Century, maker of Century Tuna, of employing the so-called voluntary loyalty program (VLP) as a tool to retain the latter’s “perpetual monopoly” over the domestic canned tuna market.

Foodsphere has written DTI Secretary Peter Favila twice complaining against Century’s VLP, a scheme that involves rewarding incentives to dealers and retailers that sell Century Tuna products only.

On its January 4, 2010 letter, Foodsphere lawyer Raymond Fortun said the VLP constitutes unfair trade practices as it is blocking the entry of San Marino Corned Tuna into retail outlets where the latter has been the exclusive canned tuna brand for many years.

Century Pacific Group is the maker of Century, 555, Blue Bay and Fresca canned tuna brands, with a combined share of 99 percent of the P6-billion local canned tuna market.

“This scheme, which we consider as the mother of all commercial scandals, involves offering incentives to retailers that sell only a particular product brand exclusively, while disallowing other brands,” Fortun said.

“In effect, it frustrates the efforts of businesses to provide the Filipino consumers with a wider option that will cater to their taste and needs. More importantly, this scheme is an insult to the ability of the government to prohibit monopoly, as it is mandated to do by the Constitution,” he added.

Citing accounts of people privy to the disagreeable commercial arrangement dangled by Century Pacific to dealers and retailers, Fortun said these retail outlets are made to sign contracts, which he said is designed to ensure the perpetual monopoly of Century Pacific over the canned tuna sector.