Zac B. Sarian
The latest innovations and other developments in the food industry will take center stage in the 5th International Food Exhibition Philippines (IFEX 2008) which will be held on May 16 to 18 at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia, Pasay City.
IFEX is the largest event showcasing the best offerings of the Philippine food industry sponsored by the Center for International Trade Expositions an Missions (CITEM) of the Department of Trade and Industry. The expo will showcase a first-rate mix of cutting edge technologies in food, groundbreaking food products, exceptional packaging concepts, and a choice selection of Filipino cuisine.
Maffy Carandang of CITEM says that the exhibition will gather the country’s premier food exporters, manufacturers, producers, consolidators and suppliers. The event will feature exciting order taking, business matching, and retail selling activities. The exhibitors who number more than 300 have been selected based on their proven capability to deliver products and services that meet strict standards and hygienic codes of practices.
The expo will feature a Global Avenue (food and tourism) featuring the special food products of Central Visayas which is this year’s partner region. There will also be a Certified Products Zone featuring HACCP, ISO and Kosher. The Organic Avenue, on the other hand, will highlight organic foods made in the Philippines.
Product categories that will be featured in the show are beverages, organic and natural products, fine food and regional gastronomic delights, biscuits, snacks and confectioneries. Also available will be fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, marine products, and a number of other food-related products and services.
Over 1,000 trade buyers from countries like Australia, Canada, China,Europe, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States visit IFEX every year.
Some of the important foreign buyers who went to IFEX in the past were Asian Commodities (United States); TNT Supermarket (Canada); Manning Impex (UK); Almaya Group (Middle East); and Nishida Kogyo Corp. (Japan).
For 2008, IFEX Philippines will also feature the Bangus Association of the Philippines under the Seafood Pavilion as well as enterprises supervised by the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc.
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