DOST ties up with pasalubong giant to make healthy snacks for students

BACOLOD CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has partnered with a local pasalubong giant to produce fortified, fun snacks for Filipino students in the Visayas.

During the HANDA Pilipinas 2025 Visayas leg, DOST and food manufacturer Merczi said they are producing products for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) school-based feeding programs in Negros, Samar, and the Davao Region.

These healthier snacks for learners range from nutribuns and cookies fortified with vitamins and minerals, brown rice bars with dried nuts and fruits, high protein crackers, coco biscuits, rice monggo curls, and iron-fortified rice.

Merzci is a well-known food manufacturer established in 1995 in Bacolod City that offers a wide range of pasalubong products across the country, including “piaya,” a local delicacy.

Merzci Research and Development Manager Maria Alicia Beba said one of their main products is the iron-fortified rice processed in a “healthier” way in collaboration with the DOST.

“Naisipan namin na i-bake kesa deepfrying kasi mahirap i-dry... Andaming uncontrollable na points. [With] oven-dry[ing], as is na ang product... Walang additional na fat, walang use ng oil. Aside from [it being] the healthier option, mas longer ang shelf life kasi once mas madaming oil, mas mabilis siya mag-rancid, mas mabilis ang spoilage,” she continued.

(We thought of baking it instead of deep-frying because it was difficult to dry… There were a lot of uncontrollable points. [With] oven-dry[ing], the product is as is… There’s no additional fat or use of oil. Aside from [it being] the healthier option, the shelf life is longer because the more oil there is, it becomes rancid faster and spoilage comes faster.)

Merci added that their ingredients are sourced from Filipino suppliers nationwide, while their products followed the DOST’s strict recipes to ensure that the snacks were as safe and healthy as possible.

The DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute and Merczi produce around 30,000 packs of iron-fortified rice in a day at P22 per pack. These are sold to local government units and the DepEd.

Their collaboration has also resulted in healthier versions of other snacks, like brown rice energy bars, rice monggo curls, nutribuns, and cracker.

Merczi is also looking into the possibility of producing ready-to-eat meals and pre-prepared sauces with the DOST.

Their products, such as the iron-fortified rice, are produced at a 10-hectare facility in Bacolod City that is capable of producing 1,500 kilograms of fortified rice a day.

“One of the biggest kami na bakery dito sa Negros... Since nakita nila na we have the capacity, we have the place and may resources, so nag-invest na rin para mag-produce ng fortified rice. From the fortified rice, since the machine is capable of doing other products, sinagad na namin, nilubusan namin ang lahat na kaya sa machine,” Beba said.

(We are one of the biggest bakeries here in Negros… Since they saw that we have the capacity, place and resources, they invested for us to produce fortified rice. From the fortified rice, since the machine is capable of doing other products, we maximized it and maximized all of what we can do with the machine.)

They are also looking at maximizing their production capacity to hit 5 million food items in a school year, as well as possibly producing the fortified snacks on a commercial scale.

“Maximizing capacity ng production, overtime, kung kailangan mag-inject ng tao, kung kailangan 24/7... Kaya naman [until the end of the school year in March]... For the commercialization, as for now, hindi pa namin kaya,” Beba added.

(Maximizing production capacity, overtime, if there’s a need to inject more people, if 24/7 is needed… I think we can do it [until the end of the school year in March]... For the commercialization, as for now, we can’t do it yet.) — JMA, GMA Integrated News