Thursday, June 19, 2008 City hosts 3rd food expo By Joy Romares-Sevilla
DAVAO City hosted anew what is touted to be the biggest technology based food event in Mindanao -- the Food Processing and Packaging (FPP) Technology Expo 2008 -- which opened Wednesday at the Central Bank convention center.
Joel Pascual, president of the Premier Events Plus Group Inc. based in Manila and organizer of the event, said this is the third time they have conducted such exposition in the city.
"The event has grown further, the space intended for our exhibitors gets smaller and smaller in every year we conduct such exposition," Pascual told Sun.Star Davao, adding that the number of exhibitors this year has increased to 160.
He said that with the increase in the number of exhibitors, they are expecting to generate more onsite sales.
"Last year, the onsite sales reached to at least P50 million," Pascual said.
Pascual said they encountered difficulties in the preparation stage of the food event, but this never dampened their spirit, as he believes that the activity can play an important role in enhancing food productivity now that the country is facing food crisis.
"We thought that this will be a very good venue where buyers and sellers meet in one roof," he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., who graced the opening of the exhibit, said that with the looming food crisis, Mindanao is an ideal location to promote activities that can enhance food productivity such as the FPP 2008.
"Mindanao is an ideal location. It is outside the typhoon zone. Agriculture in Mindanao continues to grow at ito ang industriya na hindi dapat pabayaan. There is a need to maximize its potential by conducting events like this which can promote packaging and processing," Revilla said.
Marizon Loreto, assistant regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the FPP 2008 is a boost to local enterprises particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
"DTI supports this kind of endeavor because it gives way to local enterprises. We hope that this will be bigger next year," Loreto said.
"This event brings a lot of opportunities. It does not only display food products available in the market today, but also the food facilities that could enhance productivity of SMEs," Loreto added.
The FPP 2008 is a four-day activity. It is open to the public until June 21. It will not only display food items and facilities, but it will also conduct free seminars to interested participants.
