MANILA, PHILIPPINES– The Department of Tourism’s food and travel festival, Kain Na!, is back and is prepared to serve exciting culinary tourism delights that everyone can enjoy online and in the comfort of their homes from September 15 to 18.
“The Filipinos’ love for food never wavered nor waned, even during this pandemic, but it all the more fueled our appetite and cravings. And while mass gatherings and public events are still limited, we pivot our Kain Na! initiatives to the digital platform,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
After 12 successful legs in the past two years, Kain Na! 2020, The Blended Edition continues to be a venue to create awareness and interest in food and farm tourism. The four-day virtual celebration will feature food tourism exchanges, an online selling platform, digital business training and e-learning modules.
“The eating, food demos, and culinary tourism extravaganza, trademarks of the previous Kain Na editions, will continue online. Kain Na! is our continuing invitation to enjoy and appreciate Filipino food culture. As we reboot the economy we have called upon Filipinos to ‘buy Filipino’. This time around, we urge you all to ‘eat and drink Filipino’, too! Do partake of our local cuisine, agricultural produce and food and beverage products. Every sip and every bite will help our farmers and food tourism stakeholders recover from this pandemic. This is certainly a fun way to lend our support,” Puyat added.
Among the country’s food tourism destinations previously highlighted by Kain Na! were Bicol, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Pampanga, Laguna, Davao, Bacolod, Manila, Iloilo, and Baguio. This year’s edition of the food and travel festival will feature a thematic approach highlighting the country’s distinct Filipino food culture. Philippine Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate will take the spotlight for the month of September and there are a variety of virtual talks and activities lined up.
The Food Tourism Exchange will feature a webinar series and experiential sessions such as virtual tours and food demos by Malagos Chocolate, Auro Chocolates, The Chocolate Chamber, El Union Coffee, Henry & Sons, Bo’s Coffee, Gourmet Farms, Nurture Farmacy, Yamang Bukid, REFMAD Dragonfruit Farm, and the Oolong tea farmers of Gingoog City to showcase various destinations and products.
The online learning modules will offer much-needed e-commerce trainings for food and farm tourism stakeholders and other MSMEs in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry’s CTRL+BIZ Reboot Now program with the help of enablers Google, Facebook, Zomato, Eat In, Lalafood, GrabFood, Thames International Business School, PayMaya, Gcash, QuadX PayLink, GrabPay, and Union Bank.
The Food Tourism 101 will be top-billed by Margarita Fores, JJ Yulo, Ivan Man Dy, and Michelle Cruz of Klook who will present share-worthy food tourism experiences from food walks, market tours, bar crawls, and other inspiring food tourism experiences.
The Kain Na! Trading Post, which is an online shop housing partner merchants, as well as the Ayala Malls foodie pop-ups will be launched on September 15.
Ayala Malls’ Pasyal TV will also unveil its Philippine Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate video produced in partnership with the DOT. The succeeding legs of Kain Na! will continue to explore the different culinary treasures of the country.
In October, Food Trips will be the highlight, followed by Slow Food, Slow Travel in November, and finally Christmas Cravings in December.
