LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte (PIA) – Local businesses and young entrepreneurs showcased locally-made products starring moringa as the main ingredient during the 2024 Marunggay Festival organized by the city government here on June 20.
Twenty local businesses, food processors’ organizations, a state-run academic institution, and young entrepreneurs joined in the fair to showcase their products.
The festival is part of the 59th Charter Day celebration of the city.
According to Engr. Sheila Marie Opelac, city agriculturist, the city celebrated the festival to promote the health benefits of the vegetable which is abundant in the city.
“In this festival, we want to highlight the innovativeness and talent of our Laoageños. Moreover, it brings together our students, rural improvement clubs, and homemakers to demonstrate their skills and innovations in developing moringa food products,” she said.
Participants expressed their gratitude to the city government for their support of local businesses.
Darlene Pedro, a 17-year-old member of the 4H Club, joined the exhibit to sell her moringa-infused pasta dish.
“We made moringa pasta with creamy tuna sauce. I learned this recipe when I was in school, where we made fresh pasta dough mixed with moringa powder to add more nutritional value to it,” she said.
She added that they will continue to develop more recipes featuring moringa to add to their products.
Meanwhile, May Manuel, a coffee cart owner, was inspired by the festival’s theme, so they created moringa-infused recipes.
“We developed moringa cookies, moringa tea, mojito, latte, and milky moringa drinks to sell alongside our other coffee recipes,” she said.
She also expressed her gratitude to the city government and the City Tourism Office for supporting and giving opportunities to expand small local businesses.
The state-run Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) also joined the food fair.
According to Jerson Coloma, science research assistant at MMSU, the university wants to showcase their moringa products for promotion in case other organizations want to adopt the technologies of the university.
“Our food innovation here at MMSU is a continuous process. We have new products in development, including some of our moringa recipes like chips, miki, polvoron, and ice cream, which are all available in our processing centers,” he said.
To further increase the supply of the super vegetable in the city, Laoag will also be conducting a moringa planting activity on June 28 at Barangay Bacsil South. (AMB/EJFG, PIA Ilocos Norte)
