With the theme, “Food and Beverage 2022: Emerging New Trends and Innovative Solutions in Changing Times”, the Camarines Sur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (CSCCI), in partnership with the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur, held the 5th Food and Beverage Expo (FABEX) from August 18-20, 2022 at the Capitol Convention Center.
The three-day event served as an avenue to bring together all the food experts, food business establishments, local entrepreneurs, suppliers and stakeholders of the food and beverage industry to open new doors of opportunity for learning innovations, establishing partnerships, creating employment, and encouraging more entrepreneurial endeavors and pursuits among the constituents of the province.
Local entrepreneurs of MSMEs in the food and beverage industry were invited as exhibitors at the event to showcase, promote, and sell their products as well as to establish a strong network of partnerships and deals for their start-up businesses.
Students taking up courses in tourism, hotel and restaurant management, and entrepreneurship from different universities and colleges were also present at the said event to participate as audience and to be immersed and exposed in the industry that they will be a part of in the future as they join the workforce.
Among the highlights of the three-day event include three plenary sessions with inspirational talks and informative discussions from notable speakers sharing their knowledge in the new trends on HoReCa (Hotel, Restaurant and Café), Food Nutrition, Beverage Industry, and Kitchen Cooking Innovations.
Celebrity Chef Boy Logro was also invited to present a live cooking demo and to share his recipe f0r his ground breaking dish: Avocats aux Crevettes. Also, the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Regional Food Laboratory, conducted a live demo on food processing and innovations by using vegetables as nutritious alternatives for meat.
“The Province of Camarines Sur is the one that perpetually benefits from its citizenry’s business acumen and entrepreneurship. The Food and Beverage Expo opening today is a testament to the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry that brings growth and income to the province, and opportunities for work and employment to a vast of our population,” said Governor Luigi Villafuerte in his message during the event. He assured the crowd that the Provincial Government is steadfast in prioritizing providing support and aid to entrepreneurs, especially MSMEs, to grow and thrive in the province.
With the COVID-19 pandemic gravely affecting and changing the scene in the business operations of the food and beverage industry, different establishments were forced to adapt to the new normal and come up with innovative solutions to sustain their businesses. This year’s FABEX is a manifestation that businesses are slowly slipping back to the new normal.
“The pandemic that once crippled the business sector, is now eventually starting to recover. Indeed, times are changing so as the trends in the industry sector, particularly in the food and beverage industry. We are on the emergence of catching up with lost time and life of business through its trends and latest innovative solutions as time changes everything. We have to move on. We have to succeed,” said Maricel Ann Brioso, Chairperson of the 5th Food and Beverage Expo as she welcomes everyone to the event.
Promotion and patronage of local MSMEs and products
The Solei’l Food Product Mfg. is among the exhibitors for this year’s FABEX. As a start-up and being new in the industry, this became a great opportunity to get exposure and to reach out to the target markets of their product, Passion Fruit Concentrated. Their product does not only have health benefits, but can also be mixed in juices, alcoholic beverages, pastries, dishes, herbals, and teas.
According to Jeffrey Bertulano, owner of Solei’l Food Product Mfg., “Maganda ang ganitong event kasi lahat na nagnenegosyong nagsisimula pa lang tulad namin ay nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon na mas makilala yung produkto namin. Nagkakaroon din tayo ng idea kung paano talaga magpatakbo ng isang negosyo.”
Solei’l Food Product Mfg. humble beginnings started with the help of Archbishop Tirona who got a taste of the Solei’l’s passion fruit, convinced them to make it a business, and then referred them to DTI. Their dragon fruit and passion fruit come from their farm located at Haluban, Lupi, Camarines Sur. As of the moment, they only produce Passion Fruit Concentrated. And while it’s just one product, it has many uses. They are currently marketing it online and are successfully receiving inquiries and orders left and right. With this, Bertulano targets establishing partnerships with local hotels, restaurants, and bars as a supplier.
“Ang purpose ko talaga kung bakit ko tinayo ang business na ito ay para makapagbigay ng trabaho sa mga pinsan ko na walang trabaho. Kung ako na nawalan ng trabaho, instead na wala akong gawin, gagawa po ako ng paraan para makapagbigay ng trabaho din sa iba,” Bertulano also shared.
Another inspiring story from our local MSME exhibitor at the FABEX is Siligaya Food Products which features different Bicolano dishes with sili and gata as main ingredients. Being in the business for 3 years, Siligaya Food Products started in 2019 with only Bicol Express and Laing as their products, until they innovated and added more products like Kinunot and Santol. They eventually earned consistent buyers patronizing their products, which got them invited by government agencies like LGU Camsur, LGU Naga, DTI, and DA to be an exhibitor at trade fairs.
“Malaking tulong sa amin ang ganitong trade fair sa FABEX kasi sa tulad namin na walang physical store, online pa lang kami nagbebenta, yung mga distributors and resellers na nandito rin sa event ay nagkakaroon ng physical set-up at nagkakaroon din kami ng direct interaction sa mga customers namin. Malaking exposure ito para tangkilikin ng mga customers yung produktong Bicol,” shared Siligaya Food Products owner, Juvelyn Gonzaga-Tapel.
While the pandemic also affected their starting business, Tapel is grateful for all the support and efforts of the government agencies and local government to ensure that the business will thrive and continue its production. Although it was challenging to market and promote products, they were able to overcome the hurdles because government agencies never stopped conducting online seminars and market matching efforts so that businesses, especially the MSMEs, will find suppliers and distributors as well as partner stores where they could display their products.
Opportunities for learning new trends in F&B Industry
Through the plenary sessions, the FABEX also created an opportunity for learning among students, especially those who are studying tourism, hotel and restaurant management, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
Among the participating schools include students from Ateneo de Naga University, University of Nueva Caceres, Naga College Foundation, Camarines Sur Polytechnic College, Baao Community College, Governor Mariano Villafuerte Community College (GMVCC) Libmanan, and GMVCC-Tinambac.
Ysabelah Alainne Aninipot, a 4th year BS Tourism Management student from Ateneo de Naga University, is one of the participants who attended the three-day event. According to her, they attended FABEX because their school was invited and believe that this will benefit them as tourism students and future tourism professionals which also includes the F&B industry.
“We are here to learn from different speakers from different regions and professionals coming from Manila so that we can apply our learnings to our future endeavors. We also got to really enjoy learning through these kind of events,” shared Aninipot. “The event is very interactive and you can see that the students are really listening during the plenary sessions. As tourism students, we posed questions to the speakers, which they were able to answer in a manner that satisfies our curiosity,” she also added.
Furthermore, Aninipot stressed that the tourism industry is a very large scope and the F&B industry is just a part of it. Once they graduate, there will be a lot more opportunities in the industry. She shared that she finds it important that the F&B trends were also discussed because it is also an essential aspect when opening hotels, restaurants, and cafes.
Grateful for the opportunities that the event gave her, she shared how attending the event inspired her, “I am inspired to put up my own business someday because of attending this event. The speakers shared a lot of tips and ways on how to build our own businesses in the future. I also realized that there is so much to learn in this sector of the industry. During the pandemic, this is the sector which was on demand as cooking became a hobby and for some it became their source of livelihood.”
Digital media’s role in promoting local F&B businesses
The digital media is the new marketing and promotional platform and trend. As FABEX created an avenue in advocating the promotion and patronage of local products and small food businesses in the province, the CSCCI also opened new doors of opportunities to local food businesses to be known through competitions utilizing the digital platform.
With the theme, “The Ultimate Bicolano Foodtrip”, CSCCI also conducted competitions on Food Photography, Food Vlogging, and The People’s Choice Kinalas. Following the criteria and guidelines, the participants of each competition get to visit and try local food establishments listed where they can feature dishes for their entries. The top finalist’s entries were also uploaded online in the social media platforms of CSCCI Food and Beverage Expo, which not only show the delicious and mouth-watering entries of local dishes and exquisite cuisines, but also promote the local food establishment’s menu that redefines gastronomic experience in Bicol.
Through the CSCCI’s initiative, in collaboration with the Provincial Government, the 5th Food and Beverage Expo showed the genuine support of the government and other agencies to local food and beverage establishments, as well as MSMEs, in the province to aid them in their business pursuits and endeavors while inspiring more to venture into businesses that would bring the province into greater heights.
