9th Philippine Food Expo

PCARRD features MS Tubongbanua’s products

By Niño Manaog

Regional Applied Communications

WESVARRDEC

During the 9th Philippine Food Expo held on February 24–28, 2010 at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, the mango processed products of Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Rebecca Tubongbanua, popularly known as McNester Food Products, were bannered for promotion by the Applied Communications Division (ACD) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Themed “Building a Global Market through Quality Philippine Food Products,” the recent national product expo allowed for PCARRD’s ACD to highlight Technomart and feature the McNester’s Food products in its booth that carried the product lines of eight other consortia from all over the country.

These products included the muscovado of the Cotobato Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CARRDEC), Pinoy fries of the Visayas Consortium for Agriculture and Resources Programs (ViCARP), ubi powder of the Central Visayas Consortium for Integrated Regional Research and Development (CVCIRRD), Cordillera coffee of the Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (HARRDEC) and coco sugar and syrup of the Southern Mindanao Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (SMARRDEC).

MCNESTER’S MANGO PRODUCTS INVADE MEGAMALL

At the 9th Philippine Food Expo, PCARRD featured along with 8 other consortia products MS Rebecca Tubongbanua’s processed mango products representing FITS OPA Guimaras, much to the delight of the buyers. Here, MS Tubongbanua mingled with potential markets and studied better approaches which she could use and apply for her bestselling products.

During the three-day fair, Tubongbanua manned her own products and through her mango dips, complemented the Pinoy fries of Vicarp who held a cooking demo for the fair’s guests. Based on the WESVARRDEC’s logs, most feedback on the mango sauce and ketchup were favorable.

Aside from attending a seminar on how to place products in the supermarkets, Tubongbanua also talked personally with her customers and even found from one particular buyer about the possibility of sugar-free dried mango. According to Tubongbanua, the buyer’s suggestion was enlightening even as she is open to producing a sugar-free processed mango products through experimenting the same in producing with mango leather.

Tubongbanua was also invited to speak before a producers’ group based in Quezon City. Though the sales did not meet her expectations, Tubongbanua considered the exposure helpful in opening her to more and bigger opportunities for research, expansion and growth.

In an e-mail to RAC Coordinator Cora Navarra, ACD Assistant Director Cesar Frias commended the exhibitors on the success of the event, stressing that business and market matches must all the more urge value-adding efforts to upscale production in order to meet additional customer’s demands.