Step aside gourmet tuyo. Welcome, bagoong on pasta!
“Really?” one might ask, surprised or flabbergasted.
At this time of great technological advancement, modern food innovation is not far behind.
While the usual shrimp paste or bagoong may be preferred more as a seasoning for native Filipino food like kare-kare and pinakbet, GemFoods thought it wise to level up its stature as a pasta sauce.
Dubbed gourmet bagoong, this new pasta buddy is a flavor one can instantly fall for.
“We have two flavors, the onion and the tomato. But for the Katha, it’s the tomato variant that is being featured. We innovated the Filipino bagoong. We made it into something that everyone of us can use in every dish which can make it gourmet,” said GemFoods International Inc. Chief Financial Officer Noreen Young-Ong, a food exporter of Filipino food and other favorites.
“We have tried using the tomato bagoong, just put pasta. It’s just like your typical aglio olio. Just put garlic and oil and the bagoong and toss in the pasta,” Ms. Ong noted.
But the unique bagoong concoction can likewise be used in other traditional dishes.
“It’s a natural flavor enhancer, so you can also use it to enhance the flavor of the shrimps or seafood or vegetable. We tried using it in the traditional munggo, and it turns out to be a gourmet dish,” Ms. Ong added.
The more interesting part of this tomato bagoong is that it is 50 percent less salty than the average shrimp bagoong already available in the market, making it a healthier option.
While this bagoong type is mainly targeted toward Filipinos abroad, its launch in the US, Europe, New Zealand, Middle East and Canada is expected to court the palate of foreigners as well.
“That’s what our intention is, so that it will not just cater to the Filipino market, but to the mainstream market. As you know, a lot of countries have their own version of bagoong, like Thailand and China. It is our aim that other nationalities would also use our bagoong for their dishes,” Ms. Ong added.
Her sister, GemFoods Vice President for Business Development Nicole Young-Chu, noted a personal experience about the company’s gourmet bagoong preference in a chat with a local in Kuwait.
“I was in Kuwait last year and we were doing trade checks. We got to talk to the merchandiser and he said our gourmet bagoong is really moving (sellable) and he himself tried. After he did, he said this is the only bagoong he will choose,” Ms. Chu said.
