Food fair becomes launching pad for new products

SMEs meet exciting prospects at a food fair

New food products from small enterprises made a strong presence at the recent 4th International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines, an annual government led trade show for the food industry.

“The trade show allowed small enterprises to strengthen their position in the local and international market,” said Toni Nanola of YY Sea International Corporation, a manufacturer of spanish-style sardines and olive oil variants – two of the best-selling food products of the company at the fair.

“We received a total booked order of about 41 million pesos. We also received trade inquiries on toll packing, direct export and joint ventures,” added Nanola. “In addition, we were also able to export our products to Saudi, Dubai, Canada, United States, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, China, and Korea.”

Another company Chanos Chanos introduced new products like the bangus sisig, bangus tinapa cheese spread, and bangus liver pate and received serious trade inquiries from highly interested buyers.

Aside from providing food manufacturers the opportunity to network with major retailers, the show also served to survey the tastes and preferences of consumers and identify potential products for marketing locally and internationally.

Puto seko cookies (coconut cream-based) from Marky’s Primebake Corporation were also a best seller during the fair. The company secured about 300, 000 pesos worth of orders through the show. Buyers from the United States and the Middle East also sought distributorship of MPC’s products.

Cormel Foods’ sukang iloko also caught the interest of buyers from California as well as Japan, and the Middle East. “Sixty percent of our buyers sought sukang iloko and we are hopeful that
we’ll have more orders because of the number of buyers we met.”

IFEX is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry that serves as a convergence point for food exporters and key foreign and local buyers. The show also features the Partner Region Program that provides opportunities to the featured region to market their products. This program is co-organized together with the Department of Science and Technology, San Miguel Packaging Products, Philippine Trade Training Center, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Tourism.

The fair is sought-after by prominent buyers of Philippine products all over the world. Some of the important foreign buyers who went to IFEX this year were: Asian Commodities (United States); TNT Supermarket (Canada); Manning Impex (UK); Almaya Group (Middle East); and Nishida Kogyo Corp (Japan).

Aside from bringing together SMEs, the fair also served as a launching pad for new food products with potential in the market.

“We were able to launch our sautéed bagoong in different variants through IFEX. We were able to close deals with buyers from the United States, Canada, Dubai, Hawaii, Guam, Qatar, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand. Aggregately, we are looking at initial orders of about 4,000 cases a month,” said Joric Eleazar, vice president for operations of Max’s QC Group of Companies.

Spicy tamarind balls from Gold Seed Tamarind, canned goat meat from Fortress Foods Corp.and microwaveable saba bananas also met important trade inquiries for distribution locally and abroad.

“IFEX is just one step forward towards marketing and promoting our food products from SMEs. These products are manufactured by our SMEs with dedication and passion and we need to support them so they can become competitive in the global market,” said Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, executive director of CITEM.

Glenda Barretto is IFEX food director

Glenda Rosales-Barretto, one of the country's most successful chefs and retaurateurs, will be the food director of this year's International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines to be held May 18-20 at the World Trade Center, Manila.

IFEX, now on its fourth year, showcases the best offerings of the lovcal food industry. It is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

This year, the festival focuses on "Filipino Food in a Global Setting."

Barretto has been helping CITEM in international food expos where it paticipates, helping exporters develop recipes that can be cooked in other countries.

She suggests that, aside from particpating in trade fairs and local food exhibitions, the government also makes a conscious effort to help food companies put up restaurants in places like Paris, New York, London, or Milan.

She says she is willing to train people who will run those restaurants.

The restaurateur says her dream is for Philippine cuisine to be recognized internationally and for Filipinos to be proud of their unique cuisine.

Barretto owns the Via Mare chain. Its first restaurant in Legazpi Village, Makati that opened in 1975 was the first fine dining seafood restaurant in the country. Via Mare became the caterer of choice for Malacañang food events.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 17, 2007, page D1

Local firms to join Asia's biggest IT fair

Ten local firms, including Philippine Long Distance telephone Co. and Global Telecommunications, are joining Asia's biggest information technology trade show in Singapore next month to promote the Philippine brand of services, especially wireless communications.

Stephen Tan, chief executive of Singapore Exhibition Services Pte. Ltd., organizer of CommunicAsia 2007, said in a briefing that the interactivem digital media, and entertainment segments would be in the spotlight in this year's fair.
"Observers project that the media and entertainment industry in the Asia Pacific market will hit$431 billion by 2009," Tan said. "The Philippine govenrnment has continued to ensure the particpation of Philippine companies at CommunicAsia to help in creating a bigger market for them,' he said.
Local firms started to join in 2004 when the enter for International Trade Expositions and Missions organized a group to showcase the country's telecommunications and software development sectors.

This year, aside from PLDT and Globe, other particpants include D3 Systems Inc., Emerson Network Power, Innove Communications, Institute of Electronics Enginees of the Philippines, Mabuhay Satellite Corp., Philippine Software Industry Association, Software Effective Solutions, and Sysnet Integrators.

In a statement, Trade Secretary Favila said the presence of local firms in CommunicAsia aims at promoting the Philippine brand of ICT services to Asia and the world.

Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Aoncillo-Reyes, also the CITEM executive director, had reported that local firms clinched contracts worth a total of $6.2 million in last year's fair, which showed their hold in the niche of value-added services like creative content in mobile phones.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 9, 2007
Ronnel W. Domingo

Milkfish company makes a splash in the local food scene

Chanos Chanos Trading specializes on one of the national symbols of the Philippines: the milkfish, otherwise known as bangus in Filipino, with the scientific name where this company got its title. This food manufacturer lives up to its business name for their sole product is bangus. And talking about national symbols—say coconut as the tree of life—Chanos Chanos has made milkfish the fish of life. This is because they can practically turn bangus into almost anything: from daing, tinapa, and belly, to siomai, kikiam, siopao, fishball, longganisa, empanada, chicharon, sisig, and burger.

“Name it, we’ve got it,” brags Ramon Rodriguez, General Manager of Chanos Chanos, when he talks about the company’s capability to transform the Philippines’ national fish into a number of mouth-watering foodstuffs and dishes. “I guess it is the quality and diverseness of our bangus products that make restaurants and resorts pine for our supply.” Yes, Chanos Chanos is catering its fresh and tasty food items to famous diners like Max’s, Pancake House, Gerry’s Grill, and Villa Escudero for years.

This food enterprise, which started as a bangus grower in Batangas in 1983, is taking another step towards exporting. Right now, Chanos Chanos attends food seminars and local exhibits in order to learn the process of developing their products, preparing the food safely, and of course, promoting its brand abroad.

Chanos Chanos at IFEX 2007

This coming May 18-20 at the World Trade Center, Manila, Chanos Chanos is going to join the International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines, the most exciting marketplace showcasing the best offerings of the Philippine food industry.

“This will be our first time to exhibit in IFEX and we hope that this event would be the stepping-stone for our products to be accepted and recognized worldwide,” Ramon wishes. “Maraming matutuhan sa IFEX because it is not just an exhibit but also a venue where SMEs can learn things they thought they already knew like in packaging, food preparation, cleanliness, and hazard analysis.”

Ramon explains that he and his team are currently attending a number food seminars through the Partner Region Program that CITEM (Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, organizer of IFEX Philippines) holds in preparation for the upcoming IFEX.

Under the Partner Region Program, or PRP, select food companies from a region are given the necessary training to help them in manufacturing safe and quality products and equip them with knowledge in more effective negotiation with both local and foreign buyers. The products—in their enhanced packaging and labels—are showcased in a special setting during IFEX. The participating companies are also given a separate area where they can conduct negotiations with interested buyers.

This year, IFEX will feature the appetizing products of Region 4A or CALABARZON. For Cavite, PRP participants are: Deli de Lata (duck stew), Carm Foods Enterprise (assorted smoked and dried fish), Café Amadeo (brewed coffee), Farm Treasures (pickled fruits and vegetables), Ocean Fresh Tahong (tahong chips, crispy tahong, adobong tahong, sugpo crackers), and Mercedita C. Perea (smoked and dried fish).

For Laguna, the PRP members include Escaba Sweets (fruit preserves), Guaranfoods Manufacturing (catsup, mayonnaise, vinegar), Norman’s Bakery (pilipit, uraro, shing-a-ling), Lety’s Buko Pie tropical fruit pies, espasol), Choco Vron Ventures (chocolate coated pulvoron), and Aling Nene’s Buko Pie and Puto Biñan. Chanos Chanos, LIMCOMA (cold cuts), and Emelda’s Sweet Tamarind will represent the Batangas province; Balaw-Balaw (balaw balaw sauce, adobong itik) and Fortress Food Products (goat stew, caldereta, papaitan) for the Rizal area; and Abcece Lucban Langgonisa and Meat Products for the Quezon province.

After attending one of the PRP seminars, Ramon, with all the new information that he learned, started remodeling its company’s processes right away. They changed their utensils to stainless steels with smooth edges, plus they put up screens and air conditioning for the whole plantation resulting to an insect and pest-free area.

As for the food preparation, Ramon also improved their finished products by enhancing their recipe with the knowledge they gained from the PRP seminars. So for this year, Chanos Chanos will be showcasing its products prepared in olive oil, which is deemed safer and healthier compared to using canola or cooking oil.

The seminars have been quite an experience for Ramon. “I enjoyed it, I gained more knowledge and now our company is ready for IFEX,” he assures.

IFEX’s industry partners for PRP are the DTI Regional Operations Group (ROG), Packaging Research and Development Center of the Philippines-Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), and San Miguel Packaging Products (SMPP)

IFEX 2007 is organized by CITEM, the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry. For more information on this food fair, please call CITEM, Agri-Marine Division at 831-1282, 831-2201 locals. 204 and 238, e-mail: agrimarine@citem.com.ph or visit www.ifexphilippines.com.

Philippines to boost its software development services in Japan

With the aim to boost the country’s proven track record in Japan as an ideal outsourcing destination for software development, the Philippines will join the Software Development Expo and Conference (SODEC) 2007 on 16-18 May at the Tokyo Big Sight.

“Our 5th participation in SODEC is a follow through activity promoting our strong points in the field of software development and other IT services,” said Trade Assistant Secretary and CITEM Executive Director Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes.

The Philippines’ participation in SODEC is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), in close coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC), Tokyo, Japan.

The following companies are the Philippine participants in this year’s SODEC: Advanced World Systems, Inc. (embedded systems to business applications development services); Alliance Software (applications software development); Astra (Philippines), Inc. (web-based systems, image management and medical applications, music, client-server, including mobile software development); Ayala Systems Technology, Inc. (Global Bridge: Suite of Technology Services, which includes offshore development, testing and maintenance services); iCatchIT (website development rich applications, software and database development services); Imperium Technology, Inc. (network monitoring system, contact center solution, voice recording system, digital banking, and enterprise telephony solutions, as well as turnkey delivery system); Tsukiden Software Philippines, Inc. (wireless, telecommunications, and business applications solutions); and Winsource Solutions Philippines, Inc. (contact center solutions).

In conjunction with the individual software development capabilities of the exhibitors, the country will also promote the FLY HIGH: Philippine Software 2010 program, a breakaway growth strategy spearheaded by the Philippines Software Industry Association (PSIA). FLY HIGH will showcase the country’s growing domestic market for IT, increasing software exports, rising number of skilled software development professionals, infrastructure for industry growth, and step-up efforts for the protection of intellectual property.

With Japan’s rising labor cost and shortage in manpower, the country’s offshore outsourcing for software development is seen to grow an average of 5% to 8% annually, this makes Japan a huge market for foreign service providers like the Philippines.

After many years of bringing their software development needs to countries like China and India, Japanese companies are currently looking for other countries that can provide more cost efficient and value-added services.

Philippine software companies’ adaptability and ability to meet deadlines remains impressive among the Japanese companies. “The country’s software development services includes a whole package of satisfactory projects, on-time delivery, technical support, and confidentiality,” added Agoncillo-Reyes.

The country’s participation in last year’s SODEC resulted in 113 trade inquiries, and generated sales of 1.6 million dollars.

A multinational company based in Japan producing multi-function peripherals which combines the functions of printer, scanner, and facsimile in their product lines, signed a contract with Advanced World Systems, Inc. early this year. “Our proven track record in providing services to multi-function peripheral manufacturers, and capability to efficiently implement their requirements, are the reasons they decided to do business with us,” said Ramil Villanueva, AVP for Corporate Planning.

To know more about the Philippine participation in SODEC 2007, contact CITEM’s IT Services Division at (632) 8325044, e-mail itservices@citem.com.ph, or log on to www.e-servicesphils.com/sodec2007.

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Australia, Russia opens new market opportunities for Philippine food

The plan of Australia to lift its restrictions on Philippine banana imports as well as Russia’s new investments in shopping and retail centers bid new opportunities for local food exporters, reported the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

“To capture a chunk of this global demand, the Philippines must strategize on how to seize these emerging opportunities and keep an eye on the current and future market trends,” said Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, executive director of CITEM, the export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Industry reports point to Australia removing its restrictions on businesses, including its long-standing ban on Philippine banana imports.

In Europe, the projected 6.8 percent growth in the Russian Federation and Moscow’s rising consumer income and demographic figures translate into export opportunities in global agribusiness.

Russia offers exporters a huge market composed of 143 million consumers, majority of which reside in highly urban areas such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moreover, Russia’s retail market, Agoncillo-Reyes said, is greatly influenced by the Russian consumers’ high purchasing power.

Industry reports say that the average wage for Moscow middle-income buyers is US$1,200 whereas for other region’s buyers it is US$400. There is also an increasing demand for quality imported products especially in the food sector with annual sales reaching as much as US$800 million.

Moscow’s largest food retailers like Erekryostok, Seventh Continent and Ramstor plan to open as many as 20 stores. It also plans to invest $3 billion in renovating existing shopping facilities, including well-equipped modern food stores over the next 20 years.

To address this growing market opportunities, the DTI through CITEM will hold its 4th International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Symposium (May 21-22, Philippine Trade Training Center) to update exporters on food safety and regulatory compliance in the Australian and Russian food markets.

The symposium is part of the IFEX 2007 trade show which aims to update Philippine companies on current international trends.

Industry expert from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) and Ms Anastasia B. Shtokolova, assistant director for Foreign Firms Accreditation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation will be the speakers for the said symposium.

The DTI, through CITEM and the Department of Tourism (DOT), met with Russia’s Chamber of Commerce in 2006 during the promotion of the DTI’s Restaurant Project to entrepreneurs in Russia and the DOT’s Kulinarya Program.

In 2005, Philippine exports to Russia increased by 96% reaching US$36.34 million from US$18.58 million in 2004. Top exports for 2005 were carrageenan, desiccated coconut, bananas, pineapple, coconut oil, and banana chips.

Philippine food products that are being promoted to Russia are fruits juices, instant noodles, preserved/dried fruits, canned products (frozen crabmeat), and snack foods.

For information regarding the IFEX Symposium, please contact CITEM’s Agrimarine Division, Bernie Laurente, project coordinator, at 831-1282; fax: 832-3965 and email: agrimarine@citem.com.ph or log on to www.ifexphilippines.com.

Manila Fame Int'l stages design coup

MANILA F.A.M.E. International, the second-longest running tradeshow for home furnishings, houseware, holiday décor and fashion accessories in the Asia Pacific region, stages a design coup in 2007 as it taps several of the country’s top designers for its Merchandise Development Consultancy Program (MDCP): Tony Gonzales, Tes Pasola, Reimon Gutierrez, Darwin Avilles, Chito Prieto and Joyce Oreña, with overall creative direction by Milo Naval who is one of the founding members of Movement 8, a consortium of top Filipino furniture designers.

MDCP was introduced in 1997, paving the way for local and foreign designers to work closely with the country’s local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop globally competitive products. This unique collaboration has helped Manila F.A.M.E. International establish a brand that is synonymous with outstanding design, quality and innovation.

Launched in 1983, Manila F.A.M.E. International is the only trade fair in the Philippines recognized by the Union Des Foires Internationales (UFI), the union of the world’s leading tradeshow organizers, fairground owners and major international associations from the exhibitions industry.

Organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), the export promotions agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the fair is held twice a year (April and October), and each edition brings new surprises with its Spring and Fall collections.

For many years, Manila F.A.M.E. International has always provided a winning edge— exceptional creativity, fine craftsmanship, well-selected merchandise not found anywhere, and personalized customer service—making it on top of the must-see shows in the region’s trade fair circuit.

George Beylerian, president and founder of Materials ConnexXion in New York, says that, “coming to the Philippines is like an instant magnetic affair! The country has an enormous talent bank, an incredible wealth of materials and good commercial common sense.”

Today, Philippine products can be found in well-appointed showrooms and upscale shops worldwide, as buyers from top companies such as William Sonoma, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Armani Casa, Neiman Marcus, Barneys, Pottery Barn, Harrods, Target, Marks and Spencer, and Banana Republic, among many others, troop to Manila every April and October.

The next Manila F.A.M.E. International will be held on April 18 to 21 in 5 venues: the World Trade Center, East Pavilion, Philippine Trade Training Center, and the Forum and Reception Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center. It is open to the public on the last day.For more information, log on to

www.manilafame.com or e-mail hardgoods@citem.com.ph or softgoods@citem.com.ph.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/feb/25/yehey/weekend/20070225week3.html