Philippine Trade and Investment Center-Los Angeles Trade Commissioner Eric Elnar encouraged Philippine food exporters to prepare ready-to-eat food to the US, as preference for this consumer good is likely to surge while many US states continue to battle the pandemic.
Elnar said many residents moved out of cities to rural areas because of work-from-home arrangements, and this would have a significant impact on the types of products they would consume.
“The latest consumer trends here particularly are pertaining to the mainstream market. Ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook food is now a growing trend because of the work-from-home scenario that we are in,” he said, citing as an example selling prepared bangus fillet to the Filipino market in the US.
Elnar said food ingredients for home cooking and eating organic and Kosher foods also provide business opportunities.
“Basically, you can segment the US market into different food trends. Recently, there is gluten-free, some follow paleo diet. There is keto, more of focus on protein and less on carbohydrates. Of course, there are vegetarians,” he said.