Ilocos Norte: Several micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Ilocos Norte are taking bolder steps to improve the quality of their products using breakthrough technologies and innovations to boost their income while nurturing the environment.
According to Philippines News Agency, from June 11 to 14, three women entrepreneurs from the province will be in Bangkok, Thailand to attend ProPak Asia 2025, an international processing and packaging exhibition that brings together cutting-edge innovations and sustainable solutions across key industry zones, including food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and logistics.
As Asia's leading event in processing and packaging, ProPak Asia 2025 provides an exceptional platform for industry leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, and stay ahead of global trends. "We are forever grateful to DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) for this life-changing opportunity," Bernadeth Adones of the Adones Integrated Farm told the Philippine News Agency by phone.
One of the three local entrepreneurs in Ilocos Norte picked by DTI to attend the Bangkok event, Adones is a producer of lemongrass juice sourced directly from her farm and learning site for agriculture in Barangay Payao, Batac City, Ilocos Norte. "Attending ProPak Asia is a gigantic step towards realization of our needs to more convenient system and better production mechanism. It enables me to understand the choices of packaging that are eco-friendly and cost-efficient without sacrificing the integrity of my product," Adones said as she shared her excitement to use these accessible technologies and machines to further improve her product, which provides an alternative healthy drink for consumers.
Suerte Mia Soriano of Lucky Theo's Food Products, located in Barangay 9 Binacag in Banna, Ilocos Norte, also shared her delight in discovering technologies on the use of agricultural waste materials generated from food manufacturing and turning them into usable products, such as organic fertilizer. "I'm very happy and lucky for being chosen as one of the participants of this event," she said. "It has been my long desire to find a machine that makes the job easier for my workers."
Soriano has been operating a family-owned business since 2006 that makes use of fresh and locally sourced ingredients in manufacturing health snacks, such as banana chips, camote chips, taro chips, and chichacorn. Aside from the excitement of exploring new places, Soriano said her participation in the event has also opened up more doors of opportunities for her business to grow and be able to share it with others.
"We take pride in seeing our local entrepreneurs embracing innovation, exploring meaningful global linkages, and bringing home insights that will further impact growth to our local MSMEs," DTI provincial director Amelia Galvez said in an earlier media interview.
