World Food Expo Manila set on Aug. 2-5 | The Final Word - video Dailymotion

CNN Philippines

Foodies are in for the "ultimate food show experience" with new innovations and trends in the industry expected at the World Food Expo happening this week.  To talk about that and more, we have in the studio WOFEX president Joel Pascual.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Well, foodies are in for the ultimate food show experience

00:05 with new innovations and trends in the industry expected at the World Food Expo happening this week.

00:10 To talk about that and more is Wofex President Joel Pascual.

00:14 Joel, great to have you with us.

00:16 Thank you. Thank you. Good evening.

00:17 So, what can we expect from Wofex? Is the recovery already here?

00:22 In fact, it's exceeded every expectation.

00:25 The food service industry is robust.

00:29 I don't think anybody expected it to leap as quickly as it did after the pandemic.

00:35 In fact, myself, we are 30% bigger than 2019.

00:39 Wow.

00:40 Almost unexpected.

00:41 But is this just a knee-jerk reaction?

00:44 Could it just be a temporary uptrend because of what they call relief spending?

00:51 People just want to go to restaurants.

00:54 And then in the end, prices are too high.

00:56 Let's retreat back to cooking at home.

00:59 In all honesty, some of our exhibitors are saying that thing.

01:03 They are afraid to project higher than what they are experiencing this year

01:07 because they are fearing that it might be temporary.

01:11 But I do believe that food will always be very important to everybody.

01:15 And that the trend, I don't know if you know that the degustation trend is here.

01:20 Like everybody is now offering such expensive meals.

01:24 You can eat 3,000 to 9,000 pesos in one pop.

01:28 So the mere fact that it's happening means people are willing to pay for experience, for quality.

01:37 But the key question there is can this be sustained?

01:42 Because you will be having food manufacturers there, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers.

01:51 And prices, I'm sure, from 2019 are much higher than they were four years ago.

01:57 Yes.

01:58 So they'll have to eventually pass all of this higher cost to customers.

02:02 I think it's a fact.

02:04 I cannot dispute that.

02:06 Eventually the pockets of the consumers are what's going to be affected.

02:11 But I don't know.

02:13 This trend is really there.

02:15 All our events have been fully booked.

02:18 All our seminars are also standing room only.

02:22 So why are they so excited?

02:24 And so many restaurants have opened up.

02:26 When the economy opened, so many restaurants have now come up.

02:29 But you know, from my observation, Joel, the big restaurant groups are just getting bigger.

02:36 Yes.

02:37 And we're not seeing any new names, particularly in niche restaurant markets.

02:45 We are.

02:47 We're not yet as famous, but a lot of these home bakers that were produced in the pandemic

02:52 are actually now.

02:53 That's why I think our seminars are so robust also.

02:56 Everyone wants to become an entrepreneur.

02:57 Yes, because they want to convert what they found to be an expertise in the pandemic

03:02 and turn it into a lucrative business.

03:04 But the only way they can do that is to learn, to research.

03:07 Give us an example.

03:08 You are in the food refrigeration business.

03:12 Also, yes.

03:13 I mean, we've seen inflation rise by leaps and bounds over the past four years.

03:18 From 2019 levels, how much has your equipment risen from then until now?

03:23 I mean, just give us a ballpark figure.

03:25 I'm going to get in trouble with my clients.

03:27 But roughly about 15 to 20 percent.

03:31 Our rates have risen to that amount because of all inflationary rates and everything else.

03:38 But it seems like with people joining all of these seminars,

03:41 they don't really think of the rising costs or the headaches of the business.

03:46 They just want to open a food business.

03:47 And as they always say, that is always the best business to get into.

03:51 Yes, because as long as you have the passion for it,

03:54 and you know what you're doing, obviously the food should taste good.

04:00 But if they do enough research and they know what they're getting into,

04:04 hopefully they can tread it lightly and then be successful at it.

04:07 Because inflation is still elevated.

04:10 It's a scary thing.

04:11 And tomorrow, of course, oil prices will continue to rise.

04:14 One of the biggest jumps.

04:16 Which I think a lot of the Filipino chefs have learned to pivot.

04:20 That's why sustainability has become an issue.

04:23 They now love to source locally.

04:25 They now have relationships with the farmers.

04:28 So the mere fact that they have learned--

04:30 No middleman.

04:31 Directly to the farmers.

04:32 That's an advocacy I'm into greatly now.

04:35 And we've been very successful.

04:37 We've brought the farmers of Benguet straight to Wives Lar, to Walter Mart.

04:42 We even introduced them to Sheraton.

04:44 And when private sector like us is able to help the farmers bridge the gap

04:50 without the middleman, we are successful.

04:52 And it also cuts the cost.

04:53 Correct.

04:54 And they get to learn of opportunities they probably didn't even dream of before.

04:59 Okay.

05:00 Let's get into WolfX.

05:01 Okay.

05:02 Let's put the cost on the side.

05:04 Because it seems like everyone is still so gung-ho with the food industry.

05:08 How many participants are you having for this WolfX Expo?

05:12 This is our biggest edition ever.

05:13 That's a promise.

05:14 We have over 1,000 booths in both World Trade Center and SMX.

05:19 We're the only one who does that.

05:21 Two venues at the same time.

05:22 And what new innovations and trends will you be introducing in this 2023 edition

05:26 that we've never seen in the past years?

05:29 Well, actually, it's not never seen.

05:31 But those concepts, those that were concepts before, have now become reality.

05:36 Like the plant-based has been spoken about for so long.

05:40 But now even the fast foods introduce them.

05:42 This healthy lifestyle, probably because it's an offshoot of the pandemic,

05:46 has become a reality.

05:49 The experiential, as I was talking to you about,

05:51 now you can dine with like some videos on your plate,

05:55 the open kitchen so that you can see the chefs at work,

06:00 the discussion where the chefs would come out

06:03 and introduce each and every dish that comes out.

06:06 Experiential is what people are looking for.

06:08 I guess because of the video, the Instagram, the social media.

06:11 They are looking for that extra thing other than just eating.

06:14 And, of course, front and center over the past several months,

06:17 Joel, has been artificial intelligence.

06:19 How does this impact the food industry?

06:22 Well, I don't see it yet.

06:25 Apart from what I see in this one particular restaurant,

06:29 who I said the plates there, they move, they have graphics there.

06:33 But in terms of production, I don't think it's still there.

06:37 It has to still be personalized.

06:39 Yes, yes, yes. But AI is scary for me.

06:41 I don't know if it's scary for you.

06:42 It is scaring us.

06:43 It's scaring me.

06:44 You have to be ready to embrace it.

06:47 Correct, correct, correct.

06:48 So I hope that the government does its job in controlling it

06:52 because it is a scary product.

06:54 More than a thousand participants.

06:56 Yes.

06:57 You've had in the past international food pavilions.

07:01 Again, this is our biggest edition.

07:02 And how many countries are participating?

07:04 Twenty countries are represented.

07:05 Twenty countries.

07:06 If you will come over, I just came from there.

07:08 We are now setting up.

07:09 The pavilions are huge, humongous, and special set up.

07:13 So I will not be remiss in saying that people will be impressed.

07:21 They should come over because the Wofx that they saw last year

07:24 is far different from what they will see this year.

07:27 It's jam-packed.

07:28 It's really international.

07:30 There might not be any space for me to get in anymore, Joel.

07:33 I'll be your hobby boy.

07:35 I will push people aside.

07:37 All right.

07:38 But what other highlights will you be introducing in this year's Wofx?

07:43 It looks like you have a culinary competition.

07:45 That's correct.

07:46 Asian Barista Cup.

07:47 What else?

07:48 Okay, right now there's a group of global chefs that are here to do World Chefs Summit.

07:55 Asian presidents of different chef's organizations are here,

07:58 which is testament to the importance of the Philippines in terms of gastronomy.

08:02 Asian Barista, so competitors.

08:05 We also have the Global Chefs Challenge.

08:07 We have 11 teams from all over the world, international, competing.

08:11 So in terms of the booths, there are, as I mentioned, 20.

08:16 All of this, the mere fact that the globe is coming over to the Philippines to do this with us,

08:21 means that the Philippine market is so accepting of international flavors, international taste,

08:26 and it's become a hub here in Asia for culinary, anything gastronomy.

08:31 When you're talking about being a barista and a baker,

08:33 our next guest, Celebrities in Business, has her mix and brew in her Bay of Bakes.

08:37 So we have to watch out for that interview coming up next.

08:40 So briefly, when is Wofx?

08:42 August 2 to 5, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

08:47 My only collateral here is that they cannot, anybody below 16 years old cannot go in

08:53 because there are a lot of equipment, there's a lot of cooking, baking.

08:56 So we just want to make sure that the kids don't touch anything hot.

08:59 So 16 and above, please come over.

09:03 World Trade Center and SMX, they can park anywhere,

09:05 and we have free shuttle service between the two venues.

09:08 All right. I will see you there.

09:09 Yes, see you soon.

09:10 Thank you so much for joining us, Joel Pasqual, president of Wofx.

09:14 Thank you. Thank you very much.

World Food Expo Manila set on Aug. 2-5 | The Final Word

Category

Transcript

Recommended