The Department of Science and Technology in Iloilo City is aiming to establish food innovation centers in every province of Western Visayas in the next two years, regional director Rowen Gelonga said.
Currently, there are only two functional food innovation centers in the region. The first was the food innovation center in the regional office of the DOST and the recently opened Western Visayas Food Innovation Center at the Guimaras State College.
Gelonga said they are working on the other food innovation centers at the Capiz State University, which will be launched before the end of this year.
“We already have basic equipment there. We are just custom-fitting the equipment so it can be used more for marine and fishery product development,” he said.
Next year, Gelonga added, they will be working on the establishment of the food innovation centers at the University of Antique and Aklan State University.
“Within two years, each of our provinces will have their own food innovation center with each of them coming up with specialization,” he revealed.
Food innovation centers support local food processing industries by providing research and development, training and consultancy, laboratory testing, packaging and labeling assistance.