MANILA, Philippines – This Filipino Food Month, as we celebrate our culinary diversity and rich cultural heritage, we’re also shining a light on the hard work of our local farmers and the creativity and resilience of our homegrown food businesses.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently launched the DTI – Bagong Pilipinas National Food Fair 2025, at SM’s Megatrade Halls 1 to 3, located on the 5th level, Mega B, SM Megamall.
Here, you can go beyond patikimim-tikim (taste samplings) and relish the different local food offerings until Sunday, April 13.
An annual event meant to platform and support Filipino food MSMEs (micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises), the DTI National Food Fair aims to promote local entrepreneurship and economic growth, as well as introduce regional food cultures to the rest of the country.
The National Food Fair 2025 marks the second year that the DTI-led initiative is launched with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign, but it’s the first year that the President himself attended the grand launch, touring the food stalls and trying out the various delicacies with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
“Marami na din ang mga dayuhan na humahanga sa kakaibang sarap ng ating mga pagkain,” President Marcos Jr. said during his remarks. “Kaya sana, tayo namang mga Pilipino mismo ay manguna sa pagkikilala sa iba’t-ibang mga putahe na gawa ng lutong Pinoy.”
(Plenty of foreigners now praise the unique flavor of our foods. Which is why, we ourselves as Filipinos should be the first to recognize the different dishes made from Filipino cooking.)
Here are some of the local products you can check from over 250 food stalls:
Something for every food lover
To ease into this melting pot of diverse flavors from all across the archipelago, start your visit in the specifically demarcated, specially curated zones: the Fresh Produce Grand Marketplace, the KAINAN Dining Area, and KAPEtirya.
Once you enter the fair, you are immediately greeted by the marketplace in full swing, selling fruits, vegetables, and produce, fresh from the farm. The cheapest options are priced at around P30.
From here, if you turn westward and walk straight, you’ll pass by the aptly named KAINAN Dining Area, where you’ll see local food like the lumpia being cooked right before you, and sold at P40 for four pieces.
Walk further until the end of Hall 1, and you’ll find the KAPEtirya, where Let Eat Go Food and Beverage House offers drip coffee, hot and iced coffee, and coffee beans sold in resealable pouches. Drinks are priced from P70 to P140.
Once you’ve had your coffee fix and prepped your taste buds, it’s time to roam the stalls.
Some favorites to go with your coffee include freshly baked cream puffs from Mr. Puffer, from the Just Sweets Pastries Corp. of Sta. Ana, Manila.
There are also silvanas from Biba Cakes and Pastries Shop of Morong, Rizal, sold at P149 each, and P250 for two. They also offer sans rival bars and messy cookies at P79, or P100 for two.
A melting pot of food cultures
For the more experimental, check the Mango Kimchi from Sugarshack Food Products Trading of Baguio City, which introduces the rich, tropical taste of carabao mangoes — a distinctly Filipino tanginess — into the spicy Korean dish. The Mango Kimchi is priced at P250 for 300 grams, and P390 for 500 grams.
They also have mango-flavored ice cream cakes priced at P350 per 355-gram pint, and strawberry- and ube-flavored pudding, both at P300 per 400-gram pint.
Enterprises like PhilNONI and Monique Miracle Fruit Juice also take fruits native to the Philippines and Asia, and transform them into supplements and juices with health benefits. This shows the resourcefulness of the Filipino food and health industry, boosting the local economy while also introducing something new.
Another favorite was RSC Pizza Corporation’s (RedBox Pizza) malunggay pizza, which incorporates moringa into the pizza dough itself. Think malunggay pandesal, but pizza.
Talking about her choice of malunggay, owner Anjelica Binua San Miguel believes it’s what gives her an edge against other pizzerias.
“‘Yong mga bata, ‘di ba, gustong-gusto nila ‘yong mga pepperoni, mga ham and cheese, plain cheese, tapos nilagyan ko ng malunggay. Ibig sabihin, napapakain ko sila ng gulay nang hindi nila nalalaman kasi hindi mo malalasahan,” she said.
(The kids really like pepperoni, ham and cheese, plain cheese, then I add malunggay. Which means I can make them eat vegetables without them knowing because you can’t even taste it.)
San Miguel graduated from the DTI’s KMME (Kapatid Mentor ME) Project in 2019. KMME is a mentorship program aimed at boosting mentees’ entrepreneurial capacity by providing access to necessary resources.
“So sinusupport talaga nila (DTI) kami simula ‘nong nag-start ako in micro-, and ngayon, small business na ako,” San Miguel told Rappler.
(So, DTI really supported us since I started in micro-, and now, I have a small business.)
RedBox Pizza also helps uplift micro businesses by allowing them to distribute their products at a lower cost.
The taste of tomorrow
These innovative food products that line the stalls at the food fair don’t just introduce a new flavor dimension to familiar foods and dishes. The use of untapped resources native to the Philippines, actually marks a movement towards sustainability, with eco-conscious, plant-based alternatives and food technologies that are bound to make waves in Filipino food production.
Kangkong King, for instance, uses kangkong (water spinach) to make chips. While potato and corn are often used to make this snack, kangkong, agriculturally, demands less resources.
Meanwhile, FEEL WELL’s creations — which include milk and yogurt products made from carabao milk — showcase innovative use of local ingredients.
“I’m Filipina,” said Margarita “Candy” Roces Jalbuena, half of the FEEL WELL founders. “I came home because it’s time that we promote our own products, right? And then we promote our farmers, you know, all over.”
Jalbuena previously lived in Barcelona, Spain with her husband.
Turning 77 in July, Jalbuena told Rappler she felt it’s time for her to do something for the country.
There’s also Pinderella’s Kitchen Cafe, which initially wanted to make traditional marmalades, but figured that bigger corporations do it better. Because of this, they decided to explore the potential of local citrus fruits.
They offer nova, calamansi, dayap, pink pomelo, ponkan, and dalandan marmalades that have diverse flavor profiles, with some being sweeter, others more sour, and others with a hint of bitter. You can spread them on toast with some butter or cream cheese, or mix them into tea blends to add a citrus kick to your drink.
Nutri Aces Food Enterprise, on the other hand, uses mulberries to create mulberry juices, jams, and frozen mulberry for smoothie blends, baking, sauces, among others.
Maria Diana Reyes, owner and founder of Nutri Aces and a chef by profession, shared that her research on mulberry began when she discovered that the fruit of the plant whose leaves they use as a source of feed for their livestock, actually has quite a lot of health benefits.
“Actually, this local fruit is very underrated,” she said. “It’s not available in the market.”
Nutri Aces’ use of mulberry fruits, as well as its leaves, maximizes local resources. With this being their first year at the DTI National Food Fair, one can only guess what new innovations in food production next year’s food fair might bring.
For over a decade now, the DTI National Food Fair has always been about uplifting MSMEs and promoting the Philippines’ different regional delicacies. But with this year’s diverse lineup, it seems there is a greater focus on sustainability and innovation, which could perhaps signal an important shift in the Filipino food production scene — a shift from simply promoting Filipino ingredients and cuisines, to actually sustaining them. – Rappler.com
Bea Gatmaytan is a Rappler intern studying Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines Diliman.