Food Philippines @ Food&HotelAsia 2014

I attended the mega F&B and hospitality event, Food&HotelAsia 2014 (FHA) last month, held at the Singapore Expo. Food Philippines, the Philippines’ collective food export brand, was among the local and foreign exhibitors who were exhibiting there.

Held every two years, FHA in Singapore is the largest international food tradeshow in Asia.

Seventeen home-grown Philippine brands such as CDO, Clover, Goldilocks, Leslie, Ligo, Lipa Fresh Coconut Water, Mama Sita’s, Master Sardines, Mega Fishing Corporation, Philippine Fresh Fruits Davao, Rebisco, San Marino, Agrinurture, Brand Exports, Dealo Koffee Klatch, Gem Foods, Market Reach International, Prifood, and Q-Phil participated with the goal of boosting the country’s food exports.

Here’s a sample of some of the items they brought:

I tried the products and among them, the more memorable ones were the cooking condiments from Mama Sita’s and the fresh coconut produces from Lipa Fresh Coconut Water.

The Food Philippines pavilion showcased food products of the country’s major sea and farm produce, and food prepared with traditional ingredients, techniques and methods. These include fresh bananas, pineapples, mangoes, processed fruits and vegetables, coconut products, condiments/sauces/mixes, snack foods, noodles, canned and processed seafood and cocoa products.

The Philippine participation was organized by the Philippine Department of Agriculture-Agribusiness Marketing and Assistance Service, (DA-AMAS), in collaboration with the Philippine Trade and Investment Centre (PTIC-Singapore) and the Philippine Center for International Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

“The Philippine participation promotes the competitive local food export industry and the goal is to sell more into the world market. It is a chance for our local manufacturers and distributors to expand their regional client base,” said Engineer Leandro Gazmin, DA-AMAS Assistant.

Global demand for fresh produce from the Philippines has been increasing, with an average annual growth of 7.4% from 2008 to 2012, according to the 2013 report released by the Philippine Export Marketing Bureau (formerly the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion). Major export markets of the Philippines for fresh and processed fruits are USA, Japan, China, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

If you are interested Philippines Trade, the Singapore office has set up various social media channels on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. 🙂