11 March 2019

Published also in Business Mirror

SIXTEEN local companies showcased the best of Philippine food products in the 44th edition of International Food and Beverage Exhibition, popularly known as Foodex Japan. The event was held from March 5 to 8, 2019, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

Led by the Department of Trade and Industry-Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM), the Philippine delegation showcased 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. We brought 16 Philippine companies to showcase these finest selections in Japan’s biggest food show,” DTI-CITEM Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan said.

In 2018 Japan was the Philippines’s largest export destination for fresh food and the second-largest market for processed food next to the United States.

The tropical fruits  showcased in Japan included banana, coconut, durian, papaya, pineapple and mango. The Philippine delegation also highlighted organic food, cakes and confectionary, tuna, shrimp and crabs, as well as powdered juice drinks of other herbs.

Joining the delegation were Agrinurture Inc., Amley Food Corp., Avante Agri-Products Philippines Inc., Celebes Coconut Corp., Century Pacific Food Inc., Citra Mina Canning Corp., 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 would deliver our sales target and maintain the Philippines’s strong market presence in Japan,” Suaco-Juan said.

In 2018, 18 local firms under the FoodPhilippines pavilion bagged $17.1 million worth of export orders. For this year’s participation, Citem sought to exceed last year’s sales and generate at least $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 was 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.