What’s cooking in PH food sector?

World-class Philippine food brands up for sale

The state of the Philippine food and beverage industry will be showcased at the 14th Philippine Food Expo on April 20-22 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.

The theme of this year’s expo, the country’s “only all-Filipino food show,” is “Emerging Trends in Food Trade.”

The event will highlight developments in the food business. Industry players can learn ways to adapt to market demands, identify suppliers and partners, and acquire skills and get introduced to technologies that will help them grow their businesses and be more competitive.

At the press launch of this year’s show, organizers said the event would feature the various players in the industry—processors, producers, growers, exporters, even micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs). Exhibitors would also include packaging and equipment manufacturers, among others.

Some 300 exhibitors have signed up for the expo, about half of them micro, small and medium enterprises.

Aside from showcasing products and services, the expo will feature technical sessions to help participants, particularly those in Visayas and Mindanao, scale up their enterprises.

Seminars include ASPIRE for Agripreneurs (Agribusiness Support for Investments Promotion in Regional Expositions), franchising opportunities, effect of the TRAIN law on the food industry and impact of DOST Set-Up Programs on SME adaptors.

Other topics are trends and business opportunities in the Asean food and beverage industry, threats to the food business, financial assistance for SMEs, productivity and innovation, adapting GS1 barcodes, renewable energy and packaging and logistics services.

Native wines on display

Culinary competitions participated in by different culinary schools will be conducted. For the first time in the history of the competition, there will be a chocolate, coffee and tea festival, highlighting locally sourced raw materials.

Cooking demonstrations and bartending and flairtending showdowns and culinary competitions are also on the three-day program.

Roberto C. Amores, president of The Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (Philfoodex) Inc., the group behind the event, said while the expo would shine the spotlight on the local industry’s accomplishments and milestones, it would also call attention to challenges and what remained to be done to make the country more competitive, using achievements of other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as benchmarks.

The expo, Amores said, would help Philfoodex members become more competitive with the establishment of the Asean Economic Community. He stressed the need for the Philippines to sync its food industry with that of its neighbors.

He identified some of the problems faced by the food industry as availability of raw materials, technology concerns and insufficient credit and finance opportunities.

Collaborating with Philfoodex in staging the expo are the Philippine Exporters Federation, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and Export Marketing Bureau.

The event is presented with the cooperation of the Philippine Okra Producers & Exporters Association, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, GS1 Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bank of China, COHREP, ICC Philippines and Oishi.

For more information, contact 949 4054 or e-mail [email protected]. Event manager Cut Unlimited Inc. may be reached through 3727023-25 or e-mail [email protected], or their website www.phillippinefoodexpo.com. —CONTRIBUTED