Regina Troy Barrios

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IFEX 2026 and KATHA Awards for Food

<p>If your artisanal bagoong, ube halaya, or calamansi curd deserves more than a shelf at the neighborhood grocery, this is your sign. Nominations for the <a href="https://www.ifexconnect.com/ifexphilippines/katha" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>2026 KATHA Awards for Food</strong></a> are now in full swing at <a href="https://www.ifexconnect.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>IFEX Philippines 2026</strong></a>, the country’s annual showcase for its most compelling food finds and tropical flavors.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXbOF_uFCF8/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=1080&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A266421%2C%22ls%22%3A266042.00000000006%2C%22le%22%3A266417.00000000006%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Open to eligible IFEX exhibitors, the <strong>KATHA Awards for Food</strong> is where promising Philippine food MSMEs enter the export conversation in a more serious way. For brands with growth on the horizon, it’s less about visibility for its own sake and more about readiness for international shelves. Organized by the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/citemph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM)</strong></a>, it recognizes products that balance innovation, market readiness, and a distinctly Filipino identity.</p><p>That matters because CITEM is not just another event organizer. It is the export promotion arm of the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/citemph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Department of Trade and Industry</strong></a>, responsible for bringing Philippine products to global markets through trade fairs, expositions, and international missions. In practice, it links local producers with international buyers and puts Philippine food and design on the sourcing map.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770023354471.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">From sweet to savory and everything in between, the 2025 KATHA Award for Food winners showed just how far Filipino food innovation can go | Photo: IFEX</span></span></span></div><h3><strong>The KATHA Awards for Food explained</strong> </h3><p>The <strong>KATHA Awards</strong> began in the early 1980s as part of CITEM&#x27;s push to raise the design and innovation standards of Philippine export products—long before “export-ready” became a buzzword. </p><p>Its food edition started in 2015. Today, the <strong>KATHA Awards for Food</strong> is a moment when the conversation around Filipino cuisine has shifted. Rather than asking whether it needs to be “elevated,” the focus is increasingly on how it is communicated, distributed, and experienced beyond its place of origin. As CITEM Executive Director Leah Pulido Ocampo describes it, the KATHA Award for Food serves as “a seal of Philippine excellence” that signals to global markets that a product is world-class, culturally rooted, and innovatively crafted.</p><p>Winners and nominees gain stronger brand visibility, access to marketing support, and opportunities to participate in overseas trade fairs under the FOODPhilippines banner. In recent years, several KATHA awardees have gone on to earn recognition at regional platforms such as the <a href="https://citem.gov.ph/press-releases/conquering-stages-citem-celebrates-katha-awardees-recognized-at-inaugural-asean-food-excellence-awards" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ASEAN Food Excellence Awards</a>—an indication of how the program can function as a springboard rather than a standalone accolade.</p><p>For 2026, the award is tied to <strong>IFEX Philippines 2026</strong>, where producers, buyers, and distributors meet over three days and turn regional products into export conversations on the floor.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17770024463443.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">FOODPhilippines advocates Abigail Marquez, Erwan Heussaff, and Raine Cabral Laysico at IFEX Philippines 2025 | Photo: IFEX</span></span></span></div><h3><strong>Where food becomes its own story </strong></h3><p>There is also a storytelling layer built into this year’s edition, where selected food personalities are tapped as FOODPhilippines advocates to help introduce KATHA-nominated products to wider audiences online and in public platforms. Returning advocate <a href="https://www.instagram.com/abigailfmarquez/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Abi Marquez</strong></a> joins past advocates <a href="https://www.instagram.com/erwan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Erwan Heussaff</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/clanggarcia/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Clang Garcia</strong></a>, and <strong>Raine Cabral Laysico</strong>.</p><p>The idea is simple: make products easier to understand, discover, and talk about beyond the trade floor. As Marquez puts it, the goal is to harness social media to tell the stories behind the businesses. Heussaff has noted that Filipino food does not need to be “elevated” so much as communicated, discovered, and built upon.</p><p>The KATHA Award for FOOD sits at the intersection of branding, validation, and market access, recognizing products that are not only compelling in flavor, but clear in identity and built for wider markets.</p><p>Beyond the awards themselves, the more immediate story plays out on the floor of IFEX Philippines 2026—where products are first seen, first sampled, and first picked up by buyers who decide what travels next.</p><div><em>For tickets to IFEX Philippines 2026, register via </em><a href="https://www.ifexconnect.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>ifexconnect.com</em></a><em>, where you can view the full schedule, exhibitor lineup, and event details ahead of the show.</em></div>

<p>At CITEM’s KATHA Awards for Food 2026 inside IFEX Philippines, Philippine food enterprises unveil their most promising new products, offering a glimpse of which locally made flavors are poised for global markets.</p>

At CITEM’s KATHA Awards for Food 2026 inside IFEX Philippines, Philippine food enterprises unveil their most promising new products, offering a glimpse of which locally made flavors are poised for global markets.

Which Filipino Foods Could Go Global Next? Inside the KATHA Awards 2026

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Which Filipino Foods Could Go Global Next? Inside the KATHA Awards 2026

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Published April 24, 2026 11:53 AM PHT

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katha awards for food 2026

erwan heussaff

abi marquez

ifex philppines 2026

citem philippines

filipino food exports

philippine msme

food innovation philippines

export ready food brands

filipino cuisine global

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