Banana chips are among the Philippines’ top fruit exports to Japan.

Sixteen local companies are set to showcase the best of Philippine food products in the 44^th edition of International Food & Beverage Exhibition, popularly known as FOODEX Japan. The event will be held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, from 5-8 March.

Led by the Department of Trade and Industry-Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM), the Philippine delegation will showcase the country’s premier fruit selections and tropical products, as well as its processed derivatives and by-products.

“Japan is one of our leading importers of Philippine fruits and other tropical products. As such, we are bringing 16 Philippine companies to showcase these finest selections in Japan’s biggest food show,” said DTI-CITEM Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan.

Japan is the Philippines’ largest export destination for fresh food and the second largest market for processed food next to the United States in 2018.

The tropical fruits to be showcased in Japan include banana, coconut, durian, papaya, pineapple and mango. The Philippine delegation will also highlight organic food, cakes and confectionary, tuna, shrimps and crabs, as well as powdered juice drinks of other herbs.

Joining the delegation are Agrinurture, Inc., Amley Food Corporation, Avante Agri-Products Philippines, Inc., Celebes Coconut Corp., Century Pacific Food, Inc., Citra Mina Canning Corporation, CJ Uniworld Corp., Coconut Cures, Inc.,/Mindanao Pacific Coconut Coop, Grand Asia Integrated Natural Coco Products Corp, GSL Premium Food Export Corp., Leonie Agri Corp., Phil-Union Frozen Foods, Inc., Prime Fruits International, Inc., Profood International Corp., Seabest Food and Beverage Corp, and See’s International Food Mfg. Corp.

“With these 16 big companies, CITEM is confident this country participation will deliver our sales target and maintain the Philippines strong market presence in Japan,” said Suaco-Juan.

In 2018, 18 local firms under the FoodPhilippines pavilion bagged USD 17.1M worth of export orders. For this upcoming participation, CITEM seeks to exceed last year’s sales and generate at least USD 17.9 million export sales.

FOODEX Japan is known as a major gateway to the Japanese market. Last year, the four-day event welcomed over 3,000 local and international exhibitors, as well as more than 82,000 buyers from the food manufacturing, service, distribution, and trading sectors across the global food industry.

DTI-CITEM’s participation in FOODEX Japan 2019 under the FoodPhilippines country brand for the sector is organized in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Tokyo as one of the DTI’s major efforts to intensify the promotion of Philippine specialty food products in overseas trade shows.

CITEM is committed to developing, nurturing and promoting globally competitive small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by implementing an integrated approach to export marketing in partnership with other government and private entities.

For more information on its services and events, please visit citem.gov.ph/foodex/.