Russian rep cites Philippine food prospects in the Russian market

“The Russian food and beverages market is constantly growing at 25% annually,” said Anastasia Shtokolova of the International Cooperation Department, Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI RF). “This sector is forecasted to reach EUR350 billion by 2010 and is expected to be one of the largest grocery markets in Europe.”

The CCI RF provides aid to Russian businessmen—from small businesses to broad-based concerns—in establishing business contacts with foreign partners. CCI RF contributes to the development of Russia's exports and the attraction of foreign investments into the Russian economy.

Shtokolova also said that the latest trends in food and beverages include the growth of small and regional producers, strengthening competition, and changing consumer preferences towards healthy products.

The CCI RF Assistant Director was in Manila as guest speaker for Day 2 of the 4th International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Symposium Series ‘The Global Challenge of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance in the Australian and Russian Food Markets’ held last May 21-22 at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC). This is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), along with the Bureau of Export Trade and Promotion (BETP) and PTTC.

“It is important for Philippine food companies to find a reliable Russian partner who would take care of the distribution of their products in our country. And here the services provided by Russian Federation CCI might be very useful” advised Shtokolova.

During the symposium, Shtokolova explained that foreign goods imported to Russia require GOST R Conformity Certificate issued by the Federal Agency on the Technical Regulation and Metrology (formerly Gosstandart), the Russian authority responsible for standards development and accreditation of almost all consumer products. ‘GOST’ is the Russian word for ‘norm’ while ‘R’ stands for ‘Russia.’ The mandatory GOST R certificate is then issued after a technical evaluation of the food manufacturer’s compliance to Russian safety regulations. Documents required for certification include technical description of the product; protocol of tests; hygienic, phytosanitary, and veterinary certificates; supply contract; commodity-transport documents; and technical documentation of the manufacturer.

Regarding the Russian labeling standards, Shtokolova discussed that the product’s name, producing country, company, weight and volume, ingredients and additives, value storage conditions, and application instructions are all required to be included in the packaging using Russian language.

Russia offers exporters a huge market of 143 million consumers, majority of which reside in highly urban areas such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow’s largest food retailers like Perekryostok, 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.

In 2005, Philippine exports to Russia increased by 96% reaching US$36.34 million from US$18.58 million in 2004. Also, the food mission to Russia held last year (Flavors of the Philippines: A Philippine Food Festival in Moscow)) revealed that food products with market potential include, among others, dried fruit, seafood, carageenan, fruit juices, noodles, condiments, food mixes and coconut-based products.

For more information on this IFEX symposium, please call CITEM, Agri-Marine Division at 831-1282, 831-2201 locals. 204 and 238 or e-mail: agrimarine@citem.com.ph.

Food labeling requirements underscored when entering Aussie market

Compliance with food standards is a key factor for local food exporters interested to pursue the Australian food market, said Karen McInnes, an officer of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) during the 4th International Food Exhibition Philippines (IFEX) Symposium held recently.


This includes getting the label requirements right. Ms McInnes advised that labeling is the Australian importers responsibility and encouraged all food exporters to work closely with their Australian importers to cover all labeling requirements. “Truth in labeling is important.”

Ms McInnes said that 72% of imported food failures of food imported into Australia are due to labeling. The key elements in food labeling for Australia include product name, importer name and address (in Australia), country of origin, packing date, date marking, labeling in English, ingredients list, and nutritional claims.

Other labeling elements important in meeting Australian requirements are the nutrition information panel, directions for use and storage, mandatory warning and advisory statements, health claims, prohibited and restricted plants and fungi, pre-market clearance, and specific food product standards, explained Ms McInnes.

Based on statistics, top Philippine food exports to Australia include desiccated coconut, cereals, pineapple juice concentrates, and banana chips and crackers. In 2006, total Philippine food exports to Australia amounted to 24.9 million dollars.

According to Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, global food consumption is generally affected by the rising consumer health consciousness, increasing demand for organic food and sugar-free products, increasing consumption of fresh food, and growing multicultural population. “These are opportunities that our food exporters should keep an eye on.”



The 4th IFEX Symposium is organized by the Department of Trade and Industry through its export promotions arm, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) together with the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP) and the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) to educate exporters on food safety standards in key markets as well as update them on trends and opportunities in the global food market.

McInnes reported that the Philippines has a very high compliance with Australian standards when importing food into Australia and was encouraged by the desire by the Philippine exporters to improve.

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.

(END)