KADIWA STORE. Fresh agricultural products are sold at the Kadiwa pop-up bazaar in front of the Ilocos Norte Capitol on July 17, 2023. The same local products are brought to Metro Manila as part of the producer-to-consumer (P2C) program of the provincial government, linking MSMEs and farmers directly to consumers. (PNA file photo by Leilanie Adriano)
LAOAG CITY – Farmer-entrepreneurs from the province of Ilocos Norte took home around PHP1.2 million in gross sales after a two-day producer-to-consumer (P2C) market sale in Quezon City and San Juan City in Metro Manila last week.
Elma Gabriel, head of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Office (MSMEO) of the provincial government reported this on Thursday after making an inventory of the group’s total sales for the month of September.
“Our MSMEs are happy because all the products they brought to the P2C market were sold out again,” Gabriel said in an interview.
Every month, partner merchants of the MSMEO have been going to Metro Manila to sell their products in the city hall grounds of Quezon City and San Juan City.
The Ilocos Norte government has an existing memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the two city governments for the continuing P2C program, which started even before the pandemic.
Among the best-selling Ilocos products include fresh lowland vegetables, garlic, bagnet (deep fried pork belly), longganisa (Filipino version of cured chorizos) and empanada (fried turnover pastry with fillings).
The P2C program is under the Kadiwa Program of the Ilocos Norte government, which aims to provide marketing assistance to MSMEs and farmers and help them directly sell to consumers from other cities and provinces and to help increase their profit.
Since the program was launched in 2017, around 80 farmer-producers and processors are joining the P2C bazaars, which generated a huge following from over 10,000 employees of the Quezon City and San Juan City governments.
For the convenience of buyers and to better manage the availability of products brought to the fair, a pre-order service is also available to cater to a growing number of clients wanting to experience and taste the flavors of Ilocos while in the metro.
To avail of the new service, the pre-order form should be sent to ilocosnorte.p2c@gmail.com prior to the scheduled trip. (PNA)
