Private businesses crucial in driving inclusive growth

CEBU, Philippines - If the goal is to achieve inclusiveness in growth, a partnership between the small-scale farmers and the government alone won’t suffice, an official of the World Food Expo (Wofex) Visayas noted.

Wofex overall organizer Joel Pascual yesterday told The FREEMAN a sound bond that creates a good economic entity among the farmers, government and private businesses is important if inclusive growth is to materialize.

“Small farmers sometimes don’t have the business acumen; this is where private entities come in to help them produce better and sell better,” he said, pointing out the private entities’ technical know-how in terms of marketing, for example.

In order to add more value to export products, he also encouraged farmers to consider processing food, saying in Mindanao, a lot of farmers have not maximized their profits by selling their products raw.

“We plant a lot of produce but we immediately export them. With the help of technology, farmers can generate more output with better packaging,” he said.

Pascual, also the president of Premier Events Plus Group, Inc., is leading the annual Visayas leg of Wofex, a trade show that aims to provide the food and beverage industry a main source of supply solutions.

He deems changing taste, competition, “madaling gayahin”, and issues on food sustainability, less wastage, and healthy living among the top challenges facing the food service industry today.

Widely supported by different chambers within the Visayas region, Wofex is slated on April 4-6, 2013 at the Cebu International Convention Center. The same expo is set to run in Manila, Davao and Baguio City in the following months.

About 100 participants, mostly coming from Manila and a few from international countries, converge in the three-day trade show that is expected to help educate people upgrade their businesses through seminars and cooking demos.

“What makes it different from any other trade show is that you can really see trade show buyers, general managers, even presidents from businesses in the industry coming in,” he said.

Aside from being the biggest gathering of food and beverage companies, experts, products and technologies in Visayas, Wofex is also said to be the most focused and very comprehensive according to Pascual.

He said Wofex Visayas creates business opportunities, enables networking and facilitates learning.

“It’s a trade show, not much of a consumer show, in which ordinary housewives who wish to put up a food business could get helpful insights. Even enthusiastic foodies who just love cooking could learn a lot from our cooking demos,” he said.

Among the scheduled seminars at the Wofex Visayas include “Secret to Effective Online Marketing Strategies Revealed”, “Successful Catering Business”, “How Much You Should Really Charge”, “Innovating Japanese Cuisine for the New Adventurous Market”, and “Commercial Bread Making and Bakery Management”.

Today, there will be a talk on prospects of the barista profession, best cooking results with advance cooking technology, quick desserts that go with coffee, healthy cooking with salmon by chef Erling Rune and summer cuisine.

This year’s Wofex Visayas is held in partnership with the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Expo (Horecax). Expo hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. /JOB (FREEMAN)