MANILA – This is probably the best time to be in food business, whether in production, distribution, or food service. This is due to the fact that in recent years, the local food industry has been growing steadily and consumption is at an all-time high.

A clear proof of this growth is the restaurants. International and local eateries are sprouting like mushrooms in the metro to the delight of hungry foodies and businessmen...

Enrique Valles, President and CEO of Mida Food Distributors, sees a 20% increase in sales due to the expansion of the food and restaurant industry as well as a growing consumer trend toward healthier diets. (photo courtesy Bridges)

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror

PIONEERING seafood importer and distributor Mida Food Distributors sees higher sales this year on the back of increased demand for frozen seafood products and consumer trends toward healthier eating...

One Asian seafood exec has some strong advice for aspiring female leaders in the seafood industry. 

After 27 years in the seafood industry, Chingling Tanco knows her way around in the sector -- and has some strong advice for aspiring female future leaders: you can only win with knowledge and expertise.

Having built a business with Philippines-based seafood brokerage Mida Trade Ventures International and importer and distributor Mida Food Distributors, in which she is both the managing director and a major shareholder, Tanco knows that the industry is facing difficulties attracting young female talent into the...

Certified  ISO 9001:2015

Mida Food Distributors, Inc (Mida Food) is proud to announce that we are now ISO 9001:2015 certified. To become ISO 9001:2015 certified, Mida Food underwent an evaluation process that included: quality management system development, a management system documentation review, pre-audit, initial assessment, and clearance of non-conformances, all of which work to identify corrective actions that eliminate non-conformance to the quality management standard.

The recent surge in the culinary landscape has resulted in an increased interest in cooking, encouraging many to experiment in their own kitchens. With Pacific Bay, sourcing ingredients is not a problem. The seafood specialist makes it easy to duplicate dishes served at restaurants or seen on television with its wide range of frozen fresh products harvested from the seven seas.

Pacific Bay carries Chilean seabass from the Antarctic, Salmon from Norway, and Halibut from Greenland. The brand also offers Atlantic Cod and Bacalao from Iceland and Black cod or Gindara caught in Alaska. Vietnam is where Pacific Bay gets its Cream Dory, clams and squid rings. Crab sticks are obtained from Thailand and scallop meat is from the US. Tuna and shrimps are gathered from local territory as well as nearby Indonesia. Soft shell crabs are from...

IT ALL STARTED WITH AN IDEA, says Lourdes "Chingling" Tanco, Managing Director of MIDA (originally, Management Investment Development Associates), a name closely associated with brother, former Philippine agriculture minister, 
Bong Tanco, but which now has hardly anything to do with its founding objectives. "It just rings a bell, so I decided to use it (the acronym)," she laughs. MIDA is Chingling's seafood trading and distribution business that counts around 15 years of servicing many of the country's top fine and casual dining spots. 

Ask the edgy chefs behind Le Soufflé, Cibo and Ilustrado, to name a few; throw in some five-star hotels, like the Shangri-la group, the Mandarin Oriental...

It is difficult to imagine a table devoid of pork and all its by-products at this time. Beef, too, cooked in numerous ways. But I truly wonder if it is ever possible to have a table filled with fish of all sorts, in lieu of our old-time favorites.

I recently got in touch with Enrique Valles, chief commercial officer of Mida Food, the country’s premier seafood specialist and a direct importer for and distributor to top restaurants, food chains and retail establishments.

I asked if he thought a meatless Christmas is even conceivable. “Of course, but unlikely,” he said. “I’ve always thought that serving a whole fish, say a whole...

Ever since I started getting my smoked salmon from Chingling Tanco of Mida Foods, it has been difficult to find others that are as satisfying. Her salmon is firm, with no aftertaste, and it never crumbles even after defrosting. It remains chewy and simply delicious. 

Hers is salmon trout, smoked fresh,  then frozen. Because it does not go through refreezing, the natural oils and wonderful flavors of fresh salmon are locked in...

I have relied on Mida Food  for just about every seafood need: fish of any kind (bass, skate, roughy, trout, apahap, tuna, halibut, salmon), fresh or smoked, whole, headless, fillet, steak cut, fresh, belly, tail cut, head,  any part and any which way; crustaceans (shelled, in a half shell, soft-shelled, whole, claws); mussels, scallops, shrimp (shrimp balls/shabu-shabu balls); kani, lobsters (whole/tails); cephalopods (octopus and squid of all sizes, cleaned whole, etc.).

The list goes on.

I just concluded a seafood class and was once again very happy. The unbeatable Mida team of Chingling Tanco, Enrique Valles and Lynette Jugueta always...