PH Bags over 36M USD Export Sales in Top Trade Event in Germany

Healthy, natural and organic food selections from the Philippines delighted European buyers and visitors in the recently held 31st edition of Biofach on February 12-15, 2020, at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg, Germany.

Biofach is the world’s leading platform for organic food and products with segments ranging across fresh and frozen food, cooking and baking products, snacks and sweets, drinks and food supplements, among others.

Led by the Department of Trade and Industry, through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM), eight companies under the FoodPhilippines pavilion sampled various coconut products, muscovado sugar and banana chips to top-level buyers and visitors.

Companies that represented the Philippines were the AG Pacific Nutriceuticals Corporation; Brandexports Philippines; Cardinal Agri Product; Filipinas Organic Coconut Product Corp.; Lao Integrated Farms Inc.; See’s International; Raw Brown Sugar Milling Co.; Inc. and Tongsan Industrial Development Corporation.

The FoodPhilippines delegation at Biofach (From left to right): Jeanne dela Cruz (Expo Fairs Management), Helen See (See’s Int’l Food Corp.), Donna Lao (Lao Integrated Farms), Kriska Alcantara and Soc Alcantara (Raw Brown Sugar), Karen Adecer (Expo Fairs Mgt.),, Evelyn Lao (Tongsan Int’l), Victoria Arellano (CITEM), Atty. Florian Alcantara (Raw Brown Sugar), H.E. Ma. Theresa De la Vega (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines. to the Federal Republic of Germany), Pablo Aquino (Filipinas Organic), Alan Lau (Tongsan Int’l.), Clarissa Aquino (Filipinas Organic), Lucila Geniston (AG Pacific), Alan Duavan (Tongsan Int’l), Commercial Counsellor Althea Antonio (PTIC-Berlin), Lovely Lato (Lao Integrated Farms) and Tom Medina (Brandexports Philippines).

CITEM Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan said the top-selling products from the Philippines were refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) coconut oil, coconut cream, virgin coconut oil (VCO), coconut flour and muscovado sugar. Coconut products also showcased were coconut water, coconut sap, vinegar and vinaigrette, coco syrup and sugar, and desiccated coconut.

During the four-day event, the FoodPhilippines delegation bagged a total of 36.37 million US dollars which is more than three-fold CITEM’s target sales of 10.35 US dollars.

“Our participation in Biofach has been an all-out success. This signals a strong beginning for our export promotion activities in the food sector this 2020 and we are aiming to sustain this momentum in our strategic overseas trade fair (OTF) participation in other key markets around the world,” said Suaco-Juan. “Buyers and visitors who weren’t able to check out our exhibit in Biofach still have plenty of opportunities to visit us in other shows.”

Aside from Biofach, CITEM also recently led a food delegation in Gulfood in Dubai, UAE and Chocoa in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For 2020, CITEM is set on exhibiting the country’s top and emerging food products in the Food and Hotel Asia in Singapore, China-ASEAN Expo and China International Import Expo in China, and SIAL Paris in France.

This participation under FoodPhilippines is led by DTI-CITEM in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Berlin and the Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC), Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) and the Philippine Embassy in Germany as part of the government’s unified effort to promote the Philippines as a source of quality food products in the global market.

Visit citem.com.ph to learn more about CITEM events.