40 PH firms to showcase healthy, natural food products in China expo

Forty Philippine companies will showcase various healthy and natural food selections in the world’s biggest import expo in China in November, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

This will mark the third year of China International Import Expo (CIIE), which features exhibitors eager to catch the interest of Chinese buyers.

The Duterte administration, which favors China despite the strains brought about by the latter’s territorial advances in the South China Sea, has been joining CIIE since the expo’s first year in 2018.

But unlike past expos, Philippine companies will not run their booths there in person because of the pandemic. Instead, the country will send its commercial attaches as representatives of both government and private sector exhibitors at the CIIE, according to the DTI.

The delegation will go under the FOODPhilippines banner led by the DTI, through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem).

Food segments that will be featured are tropical fruits and vegetables, processed fruits and nuts, healthy snacks, seafood and marine products, and other premium food selections.

“Exciting products that will be featured from the Philippines are our luscious mangoes, sweet bananas, versatile coconuts and tangy pineapple,” Citem executive director Pauline Suaco said.In 2018, Philippine exhibitors booked $124 million in export sales at CIIE. This rose in 2019 to around $300 million in sales.

“We are also bringing premium products such as ‘pili’ nuts from Luzon, liquor and spirits from the Visayas, single-origin cacao products from Mindanao,” Suaco noted. The following will highlight tropical fruits and vegetables at CIIE: Hilas Marketing Corp., Agrinurture Inc., Mancoco Food Processing Inc., Excellent Quality Goods Supply Co., Castillo Import Export Ventures Inc., Doxo International Trading, Magsasakang Progresibo Marketing Cooperative, See’s International Food Mfg. Corp., Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures Inc., Team Asia Corp., Eau de Coco Inc., Eng Seng Food Products, Greenlife Coconut Products Philippines Inc., Tongsan Industrial Development Corp., Island Fun Inc., Limketkai Manufacturing Corp., KLT Fruits Inc., Zigmund Enterprise, Business Innovations Gateway Inc., Sangkutsa Food Products Inc., AG Grays Farm, Marigold Manufacturing Corp. and Federation of People’s Sustainable Development Cooperative. INQ