I just realized earlier before I went to Megatrade Hall that on my 3rd straight year on covering one of my anticipated food fairs of the year. It's Sikat Pinoy National Food Fair 2016.
Before I went for some rounds for food finds, I took my attention for the opening ceremonies which was the shortest on my 3 years of covering this event - less than 15 minutes which is a-ok. Various officials from different companies and Department of Trade and Industry were there to join in the festivities.
Based on their keynote, they had a more strict criteria this year compared to last year which on on overall observation, it opened to more brands that which can be labelled as part of the huge MSME bracket yet they are providing unique and quality foods. The main attraction there was the Halal food which is a growing market here. Yes, Halal-certified food can be enjoyed by anyone.
Like in 2015, the presence of already known brands are there like Gardenia, Tentay, Silver Swan, La Filipina, Pampanga's Best, San Miguel Foods, the always present Permex, Eng Bee Tin, Baguio Oil, Minola and probably the most attractive was the section of Mama Sita's.
On the MSME (I'm gonna mix those in the Halal and the normal section) side, my picks will be the Sunrise Roasted Corn Coffee which is caffeine-free (I'm suprised that their 100 grams of instant corn coffee is only Php 20 and Php 36 for 200 grams) and based in Agusan del Sur, the Malunggay-infused Shrimp Chicharon, those dark chocolates from Davao in different percentages, new canned goods from Capitan del Mar (the same manufacturer which I reviewed the Smoked Milkfish last year) and 5-in-1 Spirulina Coffee with Mangosteen from Aztec Spirulina.
There are also unique categories which were not present in the the past 2 years that I covered this food fair like the Hydroponics and other methods of planting from Pasay City LGU and there's also a stall that sells wooden cookware.
If there are some woes that I noticed which I hope that they will improve next year, more trash bins around the area (I advise you to bring your own lil garbage bag in case that you'll take a number of food samples), some goods are either don't have an expiry date or there's one stall that sells goods with 03 2016 (which means March 2016, of course I need the exact expiry date) and probably these brands and MSMES will have at least a Facebook fan page. In this time that telcos are almost giving away free Facebook access and in case they will ran out of business cards or flyers, that social media page will be the next best thing to contact them hopefully to drive more sales. The Halal Guys were there which is only booth so far that has an FB page. That time, I was able to know more about their story.
There are 4 more days for you to enjoy and buy some unique food finds as Sikat Pinoy National Food Fair 2016 until March 20. There are some booths that are selling items at factory prices or with freebies (one example is I bought a bundle of 4 184 grams of Permex Tuna for Php 156 plus a free large shirt, at stores it will be at less than Php 180). There will be also some cooking demos including this weekend with Chef Boy Logro c/o Baguio Oil (check one of my pics for the sked). Of course, admission is free on Megatrade 1 to 3 of SM Megamall. Now check out the pics.