Twenty local companies secured a total of $48.73-million negotiated sales from 463 inquiries from trade buyers during the 42nd Winter Fancy Food Show (WFFS) held in the United State last month.
According to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), the figure is higher than its sales target of $47 million and the highest recorded by the Philippine delegation in its four years of participation in the WFFS.
The WFFS, whch was held from January 22 to 24 in San Franciso, is considered the West Coast’s largest specialty food and beverage event with an estimated 20,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors from the US and 28 other countries.
Citem said among the country’s best-selling items are premium rice and tuna. Recently introduced in the WFFS, Citem said Philippine corn snacks also garnered “positive reception”.
Other top Philippine products sold under the FoodPHILIPPINES products brand include banana chips, nuts, coconut products and other tropical fruits.
In the 2016 WFFS, the FoodPHILIPPINES pavilion reported a total of 540 buyer inquiries and negotiated sales worth $44 million from 17 local companies.
“As evidenced in its record-breaking sales during the recent WFFS, FoodPHILIPPINES is riding on the momentum as Philippine food is named as one of 2017’s hottest global food trends,” Citem Executive Director Rosvi Gaetos said in a statement.
Citem said Food Network had predicted that the “pungent, pucker synthesis of East, Spanish and Pacific flavors” evident in Philippine food will bring “new surprises” this year.
The attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Bloomberg had also hailed Filipino food as one of the hottest trends this year.
In the US alone Citem said many Philippine restaurants are gaining traction, such as Bad Saint in Washington, D.C., and egg-sandwich chain Eggslut.
The US is one of the largest foreign investors in the Philippines and the country’s third-largest trading partner. The Philippines has been among the largest beneficiaries of the US Generalized System of Preferences program for developing countries, which provides referential duty-free access to the US market.
The DTI said earlier it will pursue free-trade agreement options with the US in light of the Trump administration’s preference for bilateral agreements instead of regional trading groupings.
Citem said it will also bring FoodPHILIPPINES to some of the world’s largest food fairs this year, including Gulfood in the United Arab Emirates and Foodex in Japan.