The National Food Fair makes a memorable return with a five-day showcase of Filipino products that exemplify a people’s heritage and ingenuity.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently launched its 2025 Bagong Pilipinas National Food Fair, transforming SM Megamall’s Megatrade Halls one to three into a vibrant crossroads of taste, tradition, and trailblazing entrepreneurship. From April 9 to 13, the fair invites visitors to peruse a wide selection of tantalizing, Filipino-made delicacies and products from more than 250 unique food ventures.
The National Food Fair also marked the launch of the DTI Bagong Pilipinas Marketplace, a comprehensive, B2B e-commerce platform that connects local talent to global opportunities.
“This event exemplifies DTI’s commitment to making its trade fairs progressively bigger and better—enhancing both quality and quantity. This continuous improvement provides Filipino MSMEs [Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises] with significantly scaled-up avenues to market their products, fostering more substantial business opportunities,” shares Assistant Secretary Nylah Rizza D. Bautista, Supervising Head of the DTI-Competitiveness and Innovation Group. “Ultimately, these expanded opportunities translate directly into crucial job creation and sustainable livelihoods for countless Filipino entrepreneurs and their communities.”
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Filipino-Made Products, Front And Center
As its title Bagong Pilipinas implies, the fair highlights a new chapter of Filipino ingenuity, one that pays homage to tradition while making space for innovation. Roaming around the vibrant aisles of the Megatrade Halls, one will get a sense of just that: creativity at its finest, with flavors both nostalgic and new on display.
Some interesting examples include Palaweño Brewery, which prides itself on its light, refreshing assortment of beers, all proudly made in the country. In fact, its “FLIP” (which playfully stands for “Fun-Loving-Island-People”) beer is what co-founder Malu Lauengco describes as a “true Filipino beer,” made with two particular yeasts they cultivated themselves. They’ll also be releasing an Ube Cream Ale soon, with parts of the proceeds going into helping female-led MSME initiatives.
Paula’s Bukidnon Delights takes one of the country’s prime products, pineapple, and transforms it into flavorful condiments like pineapple jam and a tart, punchy pineapple chili sauce.
Easter Joy Rabbit Ventures also offers something unique through its selection of rabbit meat, which comes in sausages and tasty tapa-style flakes preserved in jars. Owner Alvin Samson explains that the small mammals make for more ecologically-friendly, cleaner livestock compared to bigger animals, since they consume less resources and space. While the idea of eating rabbits sounds jarring, the meat was light and flavorful, not much different than your average chicken. Samson also uses every part of the animal, ensuring nothing goes to waste, and is currently working on supplying rabbit leather as well.
Feel Well Synbiotic Food has a range of all-natural yogurts, including mango and dragon fruit varieties, and cheeses that aim to promote better gut health as well, each product packed with nutrient-dense probiotic and prebiotic.
If you find yourself in the fair, be sure to drop by the Empanada ni Behang stall—there’s a reason why its line is long (but worth the wait). Two ladies single-handedly fry and pack the Ilocos Empanadas, serving them piping hot, crispy, and full of all the good stuff (egg, longanisa, bean sprouts), with a side of fermented sugarcane vinegar (sukang Iloco).
You’ll be spoiled for choice with drinks as well, a number of stalls selling everything from cold calamansi juice to indulgent hot chocolate and coffee. Speaking of chocolate, there are entire strips dedicated to vendors of Philippine cacao products, and they’re all worth checking out if you’ve got a sweet tooth. Fresh produce and locally-made handicrafts also abound, perfect for those who love to cook and beautify the house (and also great for our local farmers and craftsmen).
On the fair’s first day alone, everyone from entrepreneurs seeking business partnerships to families on a day out were biting into something delicious, or filling shopping bags with goods that they’ll no doubt be sharing with loved ones.
Whether it’s mango soft serve, egg tarts, gourmet tuyo, peanut butter, mushroom chicharon, bagoong in all its forms (served with green mango, of course), and freshly-made rice cakes galore, the DTI National Food Fair 2025 has it all. It’s an impressive microcosm of all the things that make Filipino cuisine and culture so special—so if you’re going, make sure to come hungry.
The 2025 DTI Bagong Pilipinas National Food Fair runs until April 13, 2025 at the Megatrade Halls 1 to 3, Level 5, Mega B, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. Admission is free to the public.
Photos courtesy of Visions & Expressions (unless specified).
