The country’s biggest international food and ingredients trade show, the International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines, saw a 52% increase this year in export sales or USD162 million in actual and negotiated export sales, compared with last year’s.
Now on its 16th edition, IFEX Philippines attracted almost 9,500 local and international trade visitors and buyers on May 26-28 at the World Trade Center.
IFEX Philippines is a signature event of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) aimed to promote the country’s food export industry.
Physical Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings, with the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry – Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), generated over USD61 million in export sales. Visitors, on the other hand, generated PHP9.7 million in retail sales during the event.
Fruits and vegetables are the top export commodities with nearly USD80 million generated in export sales alone, followed by snacks and crispy and savory food generating over USD21 million in export sales. Meanwhile, total domestic sales generated by the trade show this year reached PHP147 million.
The prestigious Katha Awards for Food was also a trademark component of the event. It served as an avenue for fresh flavors, innovations, and processes to be celebrated. The Katha Awards were categorized under baked goods and confectioneries, beverages, fine food and specialties, marine products, meat and poultry products, natural and healthy organic products, processed food and vegetables, snack foods, and crisp savory products, as well as special citations for best in packaging design, best in booth display (regional, individual booth), best individual presentation, special product citation, and sustainable practices.
Additionally, through the assistance of the DTI Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC) led by Assistant Secretary Glenn G. Peñaranda, a total of 80 very important buyers from different regions worldwide participated in this year’s IFEX Philippines. These buyers discovered new and innovative products from hundreds of local and foreign micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the Philippines.
According to CITEM Executive Director Dr. Edward Fereira, the event proves that Filipino food is on track to become one of the world’s food-sourcing destinations for healthy and tasty Asian cuisine, especially with the growing presence of businesses from the region.
“This year’s IFEX has been outstanding as we have brought together the best-tasting and the highest-quality of food products and ingredients under one roof with representations from the regions of the Philippines,” Fereira said.
Fereira also underscored the importance of events like IFEX Philippines, noting that Filipinos can not only share innovations within the food sector with the global market but also impart the centuries-old culture and heritage of the Philippines.
“Through the event, we bridged more businesses together and improved our relations with our current partners as we gear toward responding to the growing demand for Asian and healthy food products like durian and ube,” he added.
