PHL top food exports take centerstage at IFEX Philippines 2019: NXTFOOD ASIA

• Presenting “NXTFOOD ASIA,” IFEX Philippines gears up to highlight the country’s “Premium 7” export products and the “Rising Food Stars.”
• RAPID Growth project will also be launched on the first day of IFEX Philippines. The program is aimed to scale up agri-based farmers and MSMEs of lucrative commodities including cacao, calamansi, coco coir and coffee.

A grand showcase of the innovations and culinary techniques behind the country’s top agricultural export products will be a major highlight of IFEX Philippines at the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) on May 24-26, 2019.

Presenting “NXTFOOD ASIA,” IFEX Philippines is gearing up to showcase the innovative use and culinary applications of the country’s ‘Premium 7’ namely coffee, cacao, coconut, mango, pineapple, banana and tuna.

IFEX Philippines is the country’s biggest and most respected business-to-business (B2B) event for Asian food and ingredients organized by the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM).

“There will be a gustatory fête of the country’s Premium 7 commodities which have been leading Philippine food exports for the longest time,” said DTI-CITEM Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan. “We are showcasing only the best in IFEX Philippines and buyers can expect to see the finest agricultural products the Philippines has to offer.”

“Through this showcase of what’s next in Asian food, we want the global buyers to experience the Filipino food innovations that are being done with these commodities and see how they can use these products in the dishes in their respective countries,” she added.

The three-day event will also spotlight the roster of Philippines’ ‘Rising Food Stars,’ which include heirloom rice, calamansi, ube, pili nut, turmeric, moringa or malunggay, muscovado sugar, tamarind, dalandan and a selection of Philippine wines and spirits.

The country’s sauces and condiments will also be featured in the event. These include coco aminos, sarsa, fish sauce or patis, chili sauces, crab fat or aligue, shrimp paste or bagoong, sukang maasim, sukang tuba, sukang pinakurat, sukang iloko and balsamic vinegar, among others.

“To further highlight the Premium 7 and the Rising Food Stars, IFEX Philippines is gearing up for a delectable and sumptuous culinary showcase of the promising export products in the country as it sets the stage for the future of food in Asia,” said Suaco-Juan.

DTI to launch Php 3.7B project to elevate PH export commodities, agri-entrepreneurs To help strengthen the country’s major export commodities, IFEX Philippines will launch on its first day the Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth (RAPID Growth) project, which is led by the DTI-Resource Generation and Management Service (RGMS) and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

An upscaling of the successful Rural Microenterprise Promotion Programme (RuMEPP), RAPID Growth is a Php 3.7-billion project that aims to propel agriculture-based processing enterprises and entrepreneurial communities to become innovative, productive and competitive so that they will be capacitated in meeting the challenges of the global market.

According to DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, RAPID Growth will primarily target four agricultural value chains, namely cocoa, coffee, processed fruits and nuts, and coconut.

“These four commodities have lucrative markets, social features and have the potential to provide sustained economic benefits to small farmers and enterprises,” Lopez said.

The project is set to target small farmers and micro-entrepreneurs engaged within the selected commodity chains, further targeting unemployed and underemployed rural women and men.

Special focus will be on women, youth and indigenous people. It is set to be initially implemented in six regions, which are regions eight to 13 with 20 target provinces.

“In order to serve as models, four pilot provinces were chosen for each of the priority sectors from among the 20. These provinces are Leyte for its coco coir, Bukidnon for coffee, Davao del Norte for cacao and Agusan del Sur for calamansi,” Lopez explained.

The RAPID Growth Project was proposed to directly address policy commitments of the Philippine Government aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are of high relevance in eliminating poverty and reducing inequality.

Anchored in the government’s ‘Pagbabago’ pillar, this project seeks to address the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 target outcomes, which are (1) expanding economic opportunities and (2) increasing access to economic opportunities, including smallholder farmers and fisher folks. Likewise, through this project, the DTI is set to prioritize the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a key pillar of its economic program.

“Various products that are harvested or manufactured by local MSMEs have a huge potential in the export market. The launch of this project in IFEX Philippines shall help shed a light on these products as it elevates the emerging local entrepreneurs and farmer groups,” Lopez added.

To know more about the Philippines’ food export products, visit www.ifexphilippines.com/ and sign up for the event. Follow IFEX Philippines on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get more updates on the event.

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