Quirino artisans captured the interests of three (3) international buyers during the 2024 Ambiente Fair held on 26-30 January 2024 at Messe, Frankfurt Germany.

The CEO and President of Second Nature Design, a Canadian-based retail distributor placed orders for fossilized flowers, corn-husk natural flowers, and twigs with a minimum initial order of 20k pieces for each item valued at US$21,000, and a sustained order of the same quantity every 3 months thereafter. Meanwhile a Netherlands-based parfüme company, Vergran Group carrying the Scent Chips brand, offered partnership for supply of fossilized flowers to complement their existing perfume product lines with minimum order of 20k fossilized bud flowers valued at US$10,000, and a sustained order of the same volume every month thereafter.

Likewise, Quirino’s wooden puppets and drift wood lamps found their way to the stall of French firm, Design Atelier, who is engaged in the manufacture, importation and distribution of toys using different materials. Said buyer bought all the samples at the booth citing the uniqueness of the items and expressed keen interest in placing volume orders in the future.

Business queries on corn-based baskets, wooden leaf trays, fossilized murals and embroidered table napkins and runners were posted by trade agents from Germany, US, India, and China.

Over the counter sales of more than one thousand five hundred Euros were generated on the last day of the fair, where items were allowed to be sold in retail to visitors and buyers. Onsite sales include wooden toys, lamps, tables, wooden leaf trays, natural leaves and grasses, bamboo baskets., and kitchen decors. Quirino Province is among the 30 exporter- exhibitors featured in the Design Philippines Pavilion mounted by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) at 2024 Ambiente.

Eleven (11) Quirino home-grown artisans featured a wide array of products using indigenous materials inspired with local ingenuity, tradition and culture of Quirinians. They underwent intensive product development with the guidance of design specialists from the Design Center of the Philippines and supervised by Mr. Anthony Carl Gonzales.

The Philippines’ participation, including the Province of Quirino, was under the Creative Design Direction of Mr. Anthony Carl Gonzales whose stylistic direction was anchored on modern classic, skillfully crafted, and environmentally sustainable products, employing “Blues on Blue” and” Naturals and White” color tones.

Date of release: 09 February 2024