The Agriculture and Food Technology Business Incubator (AFTBI) of Central Luzon State University (CLSU) together with one of its acceleratees, Vera Bella Enterprises Limited, Co., joined the 2022 Malaysian International Food and Beverage Trade Fair held last July 6-8, 2022 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Malaysia.
The highlights of the three-day event were the one-to-one business matching sessions, international and local VIP buyer program, a cooking demonstration, conference and trade talk, a business networking cocktail, and the holding of The Future Food and Agtech Innovation Extravaganza which provided a platform for agriculture and food innovators to showcase their cutting-edge inventions that will define the future of food.
According to Dr. Dana G. Vera Cruz, one of the company owners of Vera Bella, their company showcased in the exhibit their internationally-acclaimed tilapia ice cream and cookies which are non-conventional yet excellent sources of protein.
The PWD Smart Farmability, a social enterprise founded by paraplegic farmer Dr. Billy Tang Chee Seng, is the partner of Vera Bella who invited them and the CLSU AFTBI to participate in the event. Vera Bella products are set to be launched in Malaysia through the PWD Smart Farmability, making them the first-ever CLSU AFTBI acceleratee to have products based on CLSU-developed technology mainstreamed in the international market.
Accredited by the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), the PWD Smart Farmability capacitates Malaysia’s differently-abled community, B40, the homeless, former drug dependents, prisoners, single mothers, indigenous peoples, and others to grow nutritious food thus making the same access to them. The company also recognizes Vera Bella’s initiative to minimize malnutrition by offering food items made with nutritious locally-sourced raw materials like tilapia and buffalo’s milk.