IT?S NO secret that Filipinos love to eat, and they want everybody to eat with them.

At the recently concluded International Food Exhibition (Ifex) Philippines, Filipinos got to do just that ? share with the world exciting and delectable food products from the country?s 7,107 islands.

Visitors got the chance to sample and savor what the Philippines has to offer the world.

The event featured a myriad of flavors, from fresh fruits, juices and vegetables to processed food and ethnic regional delicacies.

Ifex is not an ordinary exhibition. During the event, several specialized zones were set up to cater to the every need of buyers. There is an area that serves only kosher certified food. Another offers Halal certified products. Other special zones include: Partner Region Program Special setting, One Town, One Product (Otop) setting, Integrated Project for Micro and Small (IPMS) Food Processors setting, Fair Trade pavilion, Marine pavilion, Coffee pavilion, Coconut pavilion, Department of Agriculture pavilion, Biscuits Philippines pavilion, Health and Wellness zone, New Product Plaza and Food alley.

This year, Ifex also marked the debut of Embassy Row, where representatives of other countries put their best food forward, displaying their country?s culinary attractions and exciting dining trends. In addition, they also tackled food safety standards and tourism highlights. Among the participating countries were the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Spain, United Kingdom, Brunei and Vietnam.

?The food business is the least affected during a crisis,? says Jose Mulato, spokesman for Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem). ?We even enjoy a 5- to 10-percent growth in these trying times. [In the past,] we only wanted to showcase ... Filipino products, but we decided to add Embassy Row to give consumers and buyers a taste of food from other places.?

Ifex aims to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the exhibit. A total of 350 exhibitors took part in the event this year, he said.

?Ifex is the launching pad for SMEs,? he said. ?That is why we are inviting them to join us.?

At Ifex, SMEs can promote their products without costing them much. They can also assess their products? strengths and weaknesses as well as that of their competitors.

The food exhibit can also open SMEs to the latest market trends and help them connect with local and international clients. For that, a business matching lounge was provided.

?The business marketing lounge offers services like pre-matching buyers with suppliers,? Mulato explains. ?They match classifications of products and even allow face-to-face encounters between exhibitors and buyers.?

Through Ifex, Filipino enterprises may gain ?international exposure,? providing them the opportunity to export their goods abroad.

?It will not only be good for their business but for our economy as well,? he says.

Ifex also aims to inform SMEs on how to ?internationalize and institutionalize? their products.

?We encourage them to think out of the box while complying with international standards, such as packaging and product analysis,? Mulato said.

In this year?s Ifex, SMEs also got to know global food trends.

As enumerated by Julian Mellentin, industry expert and director of consultancy and publisher of New Nutrition Business, the latest trends involve digestive health, weight management, energy, natural health, functional food such as fruits, kids? nutrition, healthy snacks, brands that will cater to niches in times of recession and packaging innovation.

?SMEs should step out of the ?small mentality.? We want them to think big. And, at the same time, we want to help them by offering these kinds of services,? Mellentin said.

Linda Corsiga, owner of Lola Conching?s Vinegar, was among the SMEs who took the risk of enrolling her product at Ifex.

To this day, she said, the benefits she reaped were more than what she bargained for.

Lola Conching?s of Sorsogon is organic vinegar made from the sweet juice or sap that drips from a newly formed coconut flower bud or unopened inflorescence.

?I found out that the drippings are the same nectar that honeybees sip from the flowers and turn them into honey in their beehives,? Corsiga said. ?So I combined my mother?s philosophy of placing the unconsumed tuba [coconut toddy] in earthen jars and let it ferment naturally for a couple of months without any preservatives or additives, using the blossoms or unopened inflorescence as raw material for the vinegar,? Corsiga said.

As a result, all-natural vinegar which has a unique blend of sweet and sour taste together with a strong scent of lambanog, fortified with amino acids, minerals and vitamins was born.

?I branded my vinegar, Lola Conching, in tribute to my mother and to keep her legacy alive,? she said.

It was in May 2004 when she first joined Ifex. She just wanted to try her hand in food exhibits. It was in the exhibit when she met a US client who is a distributor of wellness, herbal and organic products in the United States.

?That client of mine was the only source of coconut products in the US, and she helped me introduce Lola Conching?s Vinegar to the United States,? Corsiga said.

?I did not approach anyone to promote my products. Ifex is a very good avenue to meet potential partners in the business,? she said.

In 2007, she also met several clients who helped her export her product to Japan and Malaysia.

Thanks to Ifex, she has brought her company?s vision of introducing organic practices in food production.

?I wanted to help protect the environment and lessen people?s exposure to chemically treated foods,? she added.

And the tuba gatherers in Sorsogon also harvested jobs through Lola Conching?s Vinegar.

?It became a source of livelihood for the people,? Corsiga said.