Twenty-four companies from the Philippines’ halal and organic food sectors will join one of the world’s biggest food and hospitality trade shows next month will showcase locally produced food by companies that are all halal-certified.
These companies will take part at the 25th edition of the Gulf Food, Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire (Gulfood) on February 16 to 20 at the Dubai World Trade Center, United Arab Emirates to expand their reach.
Products to be featured include bestsellers like bananas, coconut products, canned seafood and dried fruits. Some of the companies have additional certifications like Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, and US Food and Drug Administration while others are classified kosher and organic.
Last year, participants raked in sales of $83.2 million.
Gulfood attracts over 100,000 visitors from 200 countries every year.
With Gulfood attracting not only buyers from the Gulf countries, but also from all over the Middle East and North African region, these certifications are crucial in meeting the demands and capturing a bigger market share from the large portion of the $ 3.3-trillion global halal market.
The Philippine delegation will mostly consist of returning exhibitors such as Century Pacific Food Inc., Mega Global Corp. , Profood International Corp., San Miguel Foods and Mama Sita’s. These companies will be joined by three Gulfood newcomers namely, Mofels Food International Corp. , Jeverps Manufacturing Corp. and GAINCOCO.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez encourages more companies to apply for Halal certification because it opens more markets, so more consumers can buy their products.
Lopez looks at Singapore as a benchmark on how the Philippine halal industry can be grown and improved since Singapore is known to be largely Muslim-friendly and both countries have 10 percent of their respective populations belonging to the Muslim community.
