According to Engineer Jonathan Nick Santos, Regional Operations Manager of SM Supermalls, the chocolate industry is officially back with a wider scope.
“Right now after we missed out the two years without activating the chocolate festival, we are not actually activating this one in SM City Davao but we chose the whole 7 malls of Mindanao,” Santos said during Kapehan sa Davao at SM City Davao on Monday (May 23).
He said the chocolate fair is not only for Davao cacao growers but also for other regions who appreciated what Region 11 did to expand the booming cacao and chocolate industries.
“So basically right now, we have participants coming from Region 12, General Santos City, to Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro City, and also to Butuan.
Santos said he hopes that the chocolate festival will also expand in the Visayas and Northern part of the Philippines.
“In the future years to come, we will continue this one much bigger not only in Mindanao, we can also go to Visayas or even in the North area,” Santos added.
The 3-day activity is also in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, , Department of Trade and Industry, and local government units.
The festival, according to him, is SM City Davao’s way of supporting local cacao producers and processors, and also for the entrepreneurs.
The grand chocolate centerpiece will be unveiled during the opening on Friday (May 27) at SM City Davao.
Val Turtur, executive director of CIDAMI meanwhile said the festival also celebrates the first year of enactment of Republic Act 11547 that declares Davao City as the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines.
Davao City was officially declared sometime in May of last year as the Philippines’ Chocolate Capital as provided in Republic Act No. 11547, or An Act Declaring Davao City as the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines and the entire Davao Region as the Cacao Capital of the Philippines.
Engineer Jonathan Nick Santos, Regional Operations Manager SM Supermalls
Mr. Val Turtur, Executive Director of CIDAMI
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