The word “trendy” commonly associated with the fashion conscious and pages of Vogue have crossed boundaries into the Philippine food business. The global palate today demands extraordinary gastronomic selection, often original and traditional yet simple and “trendy.”

The International Food Exhibition Philippines popularly known as IFEX is not only a venue to promote and showcase the best food choices that the country can offer, it is also home to many food ideas distinctly Filipino.

Anjo Farms, Inc. and Sun Q Technical Trading’s were recipients of the Global Citation Award, judged according to their packaging design, product innovation and adaptation to consumer’s lifestyle. This year also marked the first time in IFEX history where nominees were judged by foreign judges and acknowledged as a truly competitive company in a global setting.

Anjo Farms was awarded for their “Microwaveable Bangus Preparations” serving quick fix bangus (milkfish) in different variants. They were also noted for their simple and colorful packaging. Sun Q Technical Trading on the other hand, was cited for their elegant and attractive low cost packaging ideal as a food gift reflecting the rich culinary heritage of the country.

Padla’s Homemade Food Products was given a Special Citation award for innovating a popular traditional product by providing vacuum-sealed packaging to ensure food safety.

Foreign food experts such as Chef Kate Subido from Wave restaurant in Chicago and Mr. Joel Weinberger President of PS Kosher Food Works Inc. and also an independent international kosher inspector/expert chose the winners for this year.

“The bangus preparations kept the taste of the freshly caught fish and is already prepared for global selling through its certifications and availability of variants. While I am particularly impressed with the jackfruit jam of the Island Jam Tropical Collection, the entire line of jams was very well done, ” shared by Chef Kate Subido when asked about her chosen winners.

The Trendy awards aims to recognize food companies that have invested in developing or enhancing a product for the export market and acknowledge their expertise. The Trendy awards were launched during the Asian Ethnic Festival now currently known as IFEX Philippines. The change of name in 2003 was a strategy to fully internationalize the only county-organized and premium food fair. Every year since its inception, IFEX awards companies who dared to think out of the box and contributed to the development of the Philippine food export.

IFEX Philippines 2009 also hosted a groundbreaking collaboration of the young artistic minds of students from top design schools such as College of St. Benilde, iAcademy and University of the Philippines and premier food manufacturers in the country. The objective of the contest is for companies to scale up the marketability of Philippine food products through improved and artistic packaging.

The winners were as follows:Gold Award, DLS - College of St. Benilde with Poland Hopia as Partner Company; Silver Award, -DLS - College of St. Benilde with Moonbake Incorporated as partner company; Bronze Award, iAcademy with Pacific Isles International as partner company.

The 2009 edition welcomed 4,672 buyers and visitors, 98 of which were under the Very Important Buyer Program of IFEX from different countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and many others.

For information, log on to www.ifexphilippines.com

Back to list of news articles