SEEDS OF SUCCESS: THE PHILIPPINE MANGO FLOUR INNOVATION PROJECT
Department of Trade and Industry
December 8, 2016
“Seeds of Success: The Philippine Mango Flour Innovation Project” is a story of collaboration between the government, academe and the private sector to generate income opportunities and decent jobs for Filipinos by commercializing viable bi-products from mango wastes such as seed, peel, and kernel.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), the DTI Regional Operations and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL), brought together the local entrepreneurs, the community and the University of San Carlos (USC) of Cebu City to work together to develop bio-refinery plant that converts mango wastes into useful raw materials for processed food and cosmetic products, among others These products were the product of research of the USC’s BioProcess Engineering and Research Center which was supported by the Department of Science and Technology and the USAID. Through this discovery, a business enterprise called Green Enviro Management Systems (GEMS) was born.
GEMS enrolled to the DTI-EMB’s Regional Interactive Platform for Philippine Exporters Plus (RIPPLES Plus) Program which seeks to expand the supply base of internationally competitive Philippine export products and services by extending firm-level interventions to participating companies.
RIPPLES Plus, helps push the domestic industries to widen their distribution scope by exploring the possibilities of exporting their products. To increase the Philippine exporters’ capacity and make them ready to take on the opportunities the global market offers, the RIPPLES Plus is centered on various interventions such as training and capacity building, access to markets, product development, assistance in starting a business and commercializing new/innovative products and services
Today, the scavengers of mango waste in the community are employed by GEMS to process products such as the mango flour, mango pectin and polyphenols, feed mix, seed husks, briquettes, etc. and sold in the markets.
Mango flour is now an export product and is used for the production of healthy food bars and pastries for the health-conscious customers. Mango flour is used as a substitute for other flour. It is unbleached to retain its natural food color and healthy as it is devoid of gluten, genetically modified organism (GMOs), and cholesterol or transfat.
GEMS is a Board of Investments-registered company.□
Watch Philippine Mango Flour Innovation Project video on youtube.