Boneless bagoong, anyone?

This time, it’s "boneless bagoong".

This popular Filipino condiment with small fish as main ingredient is now creating more than just a ripple in the Cagayan Valley and in other places where it has been introduced.

The processed product has gone through a more sanitized system of processing, thanks to the technical and funding assistance (loans) from government instrumentalities, particularly the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Cagayan provincial government, and Cagayan State University (CSU).

The project beneficiary is the Bing Bong Original Boneless Bagoong at Batangan, Gonzaga, Cagayan, under the proprietoship of Edwin Paino.

The project, titled "Upgrading of Product’s Quality and Production Capabilities of Bing Bong’s Original," aimed to upgrade the company’s product quality to increase its market competitiveness and sustainability.

The firm is one of the many small and medium enterprises (SME) assisted by DOST under its Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP).

The interventions were in the form of skills training on good manufacturing practices (GNP), loans, acquisition of new facilities (deboning machine, fermentation vats, and hammer mill) and raw materials, and upgrading of facilities (processing tanks, salinomenter, sterilizer, etc.).

Before the government instrumentalities came to the picture, Bing Bong’s Original and other producers usually sold their semi-fermented "bagoong" to traders in Pangasinan and the Ilocos provinces in exchange for salt. The barter system has not been beneficial since value-added for Bing Bong’s produce had not been maximized.

Starting with only one laborer, the project now maintains eight laborers. Production increased by 49 percent – from the usual 250 cases per month to sometimes 450 cases/mo.

Participation of the client in S&T fairs of DOST and trade fairs of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has largely contributed to the promotion of the "bagoong" product.

"Boneless bagoong," anyone? – RAF