FOOD EXHIBIT. Negros Oriental producers and manufacturers of packaged food are currently participating in a trade fair in Robinsons Place in Dumaguete City which began last week. Some of the 21 exhibitors are already expanding their market outside of the province. (Photo courtesy of Jess Fonollera)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Small businesses in the packaged food sector in Negros Oriental are penetrating markets outside of the province after years of professionalizing their trade.
“These are entrepreneurs who have grown their businesses throughout the years with our support and guidance and have already expanded to the national, and even international markets,” said Krystle Jade Bato, spokesperson of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental.
These businesses include Zigmund Enterprises whose primary product is calamansi or lemoncito concentrate; MLC Food Product Manufacturing whose product is “tuyo” or dried fish flakes; and Herbs R Us whose products are from organic ingredients, such as turmeric and ginger.
In an interview on Wednesday, Nelsa Shahidi, who owns and markets Herbs R Us products, said they have been selling products, such as turmeric and ginger brew with seven varieties, to various markets nationwide.
“Our products can be found in key supermarkets in Metro Manila, Cebu, Pampanga, Tacloban, and Tagbilaran,” Shahidi said.
According to her, they decided not to grow ginger and turmeric themselves on a farm but to source them instead from local micro-farmers to help boost their livelihood and income.
Shahidi is grateful to the government, through the DTI and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), for the assistance and interventions provided to help their business flourish and grow their markets.
The DTI has assisted Herbs R Us in facilitating their License to Operate (LTO) and Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the DOST offered them a loan package and financial assistance for the equipment, she said.
Meanwhile, Donna Elizaga, proprietor of Zigmund Enterprises, said they are supplying supermarkets in Bacolod City, Cebu, Metro Manila, Pampanga, and Bonifacio Global City, among others, as well as other retail outlets in the Philippines with their number one product, the lemoncito concentrate.
Elizaga said the business began in 2007 here but expanded in 2016 onwards though there was a lull during the pandemic.
With the help of DTI, they touched base with prospective clients through trade fairs and other similar events in the following years.
Zigmund Enterprises also has an LTO and CPR from the FDA and is now marketing at the international level.
“We have joined international food expos and are accepting small orders. We are supplying retailers in Singapore and the United States,” Elizaga said.
Both Elizaga and Shihadi are graduates of the DTI’s Kapatid Mentor Me Project, a coaching and mentoring approach for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to level up their businesses and have also participated in seminars, training courses, and trade exhibits.
This year, both businesses joined 25 other members of the Negros Oriental Food Products Association, Inc. (NOFPAI) at a food exhibit in a shopping mall in celebration of MSME Month this July.
DTI provincial director Nimfa Virtucio said the NOFPAI is now taking the lead in the exhibit for the first time, unlike in the past when DTI had to prepare everything for them.
Virtucio said they target NOFPAI to increase their sales this year to PHP1 million.
“Last year, the sales reached PHP625,000 and as of yesterday, the exhibit raked in more than PHP850, 000 already,” she pointed out.
The DTI official is calling on the public to support home-grown products as the producers had to go through tedious preparations to showcase their respective exhibits. (PNA)
