URC Remains on Top for Filipino Consumers

Looks like the classic products from Universal Robina Corporation are getting the nod of Filipino consumers especially in fast moving consumer goods available in the market. This includes Great Taste coffee, placing 9th in FMCG according to Kantar's Brand Footprint study which was done in 2022. They have placed 4th most chosen one in 2021, a huge improvement also happened from being in 15th in FMCG ranking.

Kantar employs consumer reach points (CRP) which measurement depends on shoppers buying habits and what brand it is. In it Great Taste performed well with 424 Million CRP this year compared to 283 Million last year. 75.8 percent is big, and being chosen for over 20 times per annum is a remarkable number.

If you've been out in groceries like me, you've probably seen their new products too as part of their expansion. The GT Supreme line includes the Toffee Hazelnut and the Black Forest Latte (which I love!).

Aside from that, cult loved snack Piattos and C2 also got include in the top 20 food brands in the Philippines. The chip got 7th place with a whopping 183 Million CRP's while the tea drink got 16th place from last year's 19th place. This also got sold with 74 Million CRP's, which is quite a significant amount (but we're not surprised because it's that good!). This feat has been acknowledged by Pearl Benjamin who's a Senior Account Manager for Kantar Worldpanel. URC continues to also grow in the ASEAN region, and is also releasing products for consumers.

Congratulations URC! You're awesome!

ASEAN Foundation Partners Up with Huawei to Address Talent Gap in the Region

It was a momentous occasion over at the Asia Pacific Innovation Day – Digital Talent Summit 2021 as the ASEAN Foundation signed a pact with tech giant Huawei to address the digital talent gap in the region.

It was well attended by decision makers, researchers and digital professionals in the summit that wants to put importance in building a sustainable system to take care of IT professionals, talents in this part of the world. Government representatives and stakeholders like Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community H.E. Robert Matheus Michael Tene, Chair of the ASEAN Digital Senior Official Meeting H.E. Dato’ Sri Mohammad Mentek, the Philippine Ambassador to China H.E. Jose Santiago L. Sta. Romana was present during the event and gave keynote speech in support of these efforts. As you may know, ASEAN ICT professinals have to get their needs addressed and that accounts for a strong foundation that includes education, skills transfer and adapting to digital change in the ASEAN. This is one of the visions listed in the ASEAN Masterplan for 2025 that warrants to improve participation in digital societies. They also have lauded Huawei for entering joint venture agreements and collaborations with domestic agencies.

Jeffery Liu the President of Huawei Asia Pacific also stated that Huawei and their partners have will be investing $50 million in 5 years to develop over 500,000 digital talents in the Asia Pacific region. An MOU was also signed between two parties to strengthen ties between ASEAN Foundation and the Huawei ASEAN Academy. In it, they commit to scale up seeds for the future, a Huawei global CSR initiative that provides world class training for young ICT practitioners and students in participating countries. This includes the countries of the ASEAN region and was well accepted in the event.

The agreement was also witnessed by Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation Dr. Yang Mee Eng and the Vice President of Huawei Indonesia Albert Yang. Also in the privy was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN Elizabeth Te, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN H.E. Amb. Yeap Samnang, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community H.E. Robert Matheus Michael Tene, Deputy Permanent Representative of Republic of Singapore to ASEAN Tham Borg Tsien and Huawei's very own Asia Pacific Vice President Jay Chen.

Huawei also promised ASEAN that it will bring in industry partners from private sector so that they too can contribute to youth development efforts in the ASEAN region.

Elite Games Expo at SM Annex

I have been an avid fan of mobile games since way back when. Mind you I used to join contests before when consoles were non existent and there was a multitude of arcade boxes in malls across the country. That to me felt like real gaming, but indeed times have changed. Games have gone ultimately handy, faster, better, and you don’t even have to be present... you can be anywhere in the world and enjoy it wherever and whenever you are.

I learned about the Elite Games Expo a couple days ago when one of my favorite games from Fincon, Hello Hero Epic Battle set an open invitation to all guardians to meet at the SM City North Edsa Annex. It was so much fun to see gamers, developers, and media people experience the games they've released first hand. I also saw some of the active people who plays the same game as I do, in a way I got to know the person behind the names while I stayed incognito. I did sign up my IGN because they were giving away diamonds to players who would do a few things on their facebook page and sign up at the event as well. It's a good day to get to know the people who decide on things for promoting it on ASEAN soil.

EGI Managing Director RA Reyes was flanked by GCA Director Richard Moon at the small luncheon and they said “We are working with schools and institutions now and we want to make sure we make relationships with them. Game, sound design, developers and graphic designers, it’s a very small chunk to what we actually want to happen. People in the academe have not been exposed to the industry. Fincon is working on creating content specifically for the Philippines and aside from this, they have done the Influencer party a couple of days ago which means they are eager to connect with the community. Pretty soon there will be more companies that will be at the southeast asian market which is huge. We might see some of them on E-Sports, currently the industry are divided as far as policies and I don’t have a personal opinion about it but we have to talk to parties and meet them half way (with the GAB ruling).”

Here's the video interview I did with some online and gaming media that afternoon.

So for those who love the games and want to experience the other titles they are promoting, they have individual Facebook pages dedicated to each game. Download it off the Google Play store and the App Store first and see if the gameplay fits you, like what Hello Hero actually fits me for years now.

As mentioned earlier by their executives, they will be having different legs across Southeast Asia and it will happen very soon. The updates will be seen on their channels so make sure you follow them if you haven't yet!

KUMAGCOW

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LOCALLY Spotted at the ASEAN

I've seen this in the BGC Locally Fruit Truck launch but I didn't know it would appear during the recent Manila hosting of the 50th ASEAN Summit. They gave this away for free so all delegates from all member nations, even China, Korea, Japan and the US would get a taste of local indigenous fruit juices made by world class company NutriAsia. They are the same people who make the well love ketchup and condiment brand UFC and a lot more. They also manufacture the new Merci Buco available in Buco Lychee and Buco Padan, some local flavors we already love, now being tasted by other nationalities so they too would get a taste of the country. Isn't that neat? Hahaha! 

They surely had lots of fun, even if it was doubly hard for NutriAsia to execute this, they knew it was for a good cause and a chance to get to know our country. Imagine the stringent security screenigs they had to go through just to put up their booths and kiosks there.

If you didn't know, these are already available in Puregold, Robinsons, Rustans, Waltermart and other leading supermarkets nationwide. It's also affordable too, better than other juices out there in the market because you know YOU LOVE anything local. LOCALLY is the closest thing you want to have from the provinces. 

So what are you waiting for? Go check them out today if you're going out on a trip, or if you simply want to have great thirst quenching juice while on the go. It's easy, lovely and fully local, you can't go wrong with that!

KUMAGCOW

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ASEAN Food Festival at Ayala Malls Vertis North Presented by Smart

It looks like the ASEAN fever is not over yet as our friends from Ayala Malls Vertis North, co presenters Smart and PLDT is making your ASEAN Foodie dreams come true with the ASEAN Food Festival at Ayala Malls Vertis North's Parking Area. It's a new mall that is about to open right beside Trinoma (situated along North Avenue) and they've got tents put up to accommodate thousands of people who want a glimpse of food from around the ASEAN region and that's what we actually got. This festival will only run from May 11th (Yesterday) up until May 14th (that's this Sunday) which means you have all weekend to go there for lovely glorious food!

They've got a Beverage station in every exit so if you're looking for something to drink, just claim it here. The entrance they charge (50 pesos) already has a drink with it so just give them the stubs if you want mineral water or sodas. They also sell beer but separately.

Smart and PLDT are partners so if you need to enroll in promos, a charging station, or just a place to lounge, Smart has that taken cared of as about an 8th of the venue is dedicated for Smart and PLDT Subscribers. I love it that when I was already low batt, they had me just plug in on their stations :)

The ASEAN food festival also featured regional merchants which means they are well represented. From as far north as Ilocos to down south as Zamboanga, they've got that covered with tons of food from around the Philippines.

What stood out for me was the stalls from Cavite and Central Luzon.

Estancia de Lorenzo had different Duck and organic products which they served quite nicely. 

Their PrimaDuck line from Estancia De Lorenzo was served with Brown Rice and if I didn't notice, the duck parts looked high end as it looked like worthy of a fine dining restaurant. (Thanks to the Chef Lowell Tolentino who prepared it meticulously).

Took their Premium Duck Ham from the last event and I had the best breakfast with these lovely slices on my sandwich. You can also have it with rice, ughh.. super good.

They also have spicy stuff like this Hungarian Duck Sausage, finished this in less than 2 minutes haha!

Estancia De Lorenzo also manages THE FARMHOUSE by EDL which is a farm tourism destination in Capas Tarlac. If you want to arrange a tour so you could live the farm life (complete with planting sessions in an actual farm) just contact them through 09177096908, look for Mr. Edgar Duenas and they can arrange how you can get there. Or inquire through thefarmhousebyedl@gmail.com. Perfect for tours and team building sessions!

Popular Alavar Seafood Restaurant represented Zamboanga quite well. With their seafood dishes and products, you'll feel right in Zamboanga without leaving the streets of Manila.

I super like this stall which had my favorite Ilocos/Vigan Empanada done in different ways. Super innovative retailers from around the country participated so if you're looking or craving for an empanada fix, this is the place!

Sisig you say? Well let's just say it's not the ordinary sisig you'll see here because there were about 4 of them selling their best versions, isn't this a sight for sore eyes?

Buddys was selling the best products from Quezon Province, including Broas, Pansit Habhab, Longganizang Lucban, it was super good!

There are also some FREE samples, just ask nicely.

Chef Gene Gonzales did some of his favorite Pampanga delicacies, I was drooling when I opened that schafing dish.

Since this is an ASEAN Food Festival you'll never run out of food from the region. Chef Gene also did Myanmar and Laos dishes on this station aside from the great Pampanga delicacies he presented.

Super Chef Mike Tatung from Pampanga also did Singaporean and Malaysian dishes, his curry dishes were so good I found some of my blogger friends going back for more.

Chef Rob Pengson was a little busy when I got to his station. He was preparing dishes from Brunei and Cambodia, which I found so good later on. I didn't hesitate to have a selfie with him (you can see if you're following me on @kumagcow on my IG account of course!)

Of course it was given for Berjaya to do Malaysian Cuisine.

Wild Ginger did Vietnamese, Thailand and Indonesian cuisine. I saw Japanese Hotel Seda doing Filipino Cuisine though, that was out of the box!

Juan Longanisa had really good sausages, on display were these that were getting air dried and fried on the spot! I will be going back for this later!

If you want to take home legit Pansit Habhab, they've got dried ones available. Costs cheap too!

Bagnet rice? Oh don't even get me started. Rodel Flordeliz had this and almost all the yummy fried products only for 200 bucks. He couldn't finish it all.

Shoutout to the ladies of Helen's Empanada for getting me the lovely Ilocos Empanada and the perfect Sukang Iloco with it. I had three servings all on my own, each for 60 bucks would you believe?

I will not convince you to eat BAGNET... no I will not convince you. Haha! It's from the same stall! Super good!

They don't run out of yummy grilled ISAW and other fried greats.

Go ahead and make tusok tusok

Pasalubong finds abound, so come and take home sweets, salty chips which you can buy 3 for 100 pesos. You can mix and match too! Make sure you try the CHICHARON on this stall because they've got it with back fat and all!

This lady was the only one selling PUTO from CALASIAO  Pangasinan but make sure you finish it as it only is good on the day itself!

I also bought several things like Suman and Calamay from this stall, Mom and Dad enjoyed it at home!

That jar of Pipino or Cucumber lemonade was good, they serve it in a huge batch with 2 straws so you can share it!

The Antipolo greats such as Salted Egg, more Suman and Garlic Cashew Nuts was just so good!

The Mimaropa region was well represented and carry really good stuff and produce from the region. One caught my eye though.

The Palawan Sourced Cashew nuts were different from the Antipolo neighbors. You should get both and compare.

Take home Suman so you and your family STICK TOGETHER!

Come to the Parking Lot of Ayala Malls Vertis North today until May 14th as they are open from 4PM up until 2AM in the morning. Believe me, it's a really great way to end the ASEAN season and taste what our region could offer. Thanks to Ayala Malls Vertis North and Smart for making this possible! Cheers to more events like these in the future!