The Philippine Sustainability Movement Celebrates its 10th Year Celebrating Pioneers in the Industry
For the 10th year, The Philippine Sustainability Movement, which was called Sustainable Seafood Week during its early years, held its annual gathering of stakeholders to promote sustainable methods and supply chains. Christian Schmidradner and Claudia Rose Mendez, founders of Pristine Solutions and the main initiators of The Philippine Sustainability Movement event series, were there to personally welcome everyone who came to support this worthy endeavor.
This year, the Philippine Sustainability Movement was held at the ColLab event area located on the second floor of Sheraton Manila Hotel at Newport World Resorts. This co-working space also serves as an event venue which can accommodate up to 430 guests. The Hungry Kat was invited to join the special 10th anniversary edition which we had been attending since 2017.
I remember going to my first Sustainable Seafood event back in 2017 which was later named as The Philippine Sustainability Month in 2019. It has now further expanded into an all-encompassing movement determined to create a sustainable future. This year's event is called “10 Years of Our Philippine Sustainability Movement: Celebrating Pioneers. Advancing Organic Food for the Health of People, Animals, and the Environment. Building Trust Through Traceability and Certified Responsibility.”
The event featured several "Experience Rooms" where organizations will showcase their projects, campaigns and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) programs. Room A was the Plastic Reduction Room sponsored by Greenpeace and France-Philippines United Action.
Room B was called the Organic Food Transformation Room by Naturland and Europhil4Hope. Other rooms included the Sustainability and Food Safety Certification Room by Control Union and the Ocean Conservation Room by the United Nations Global Compact Network Philippines, Ocean Centres Philippines, Sinaya Seafood, and Marine Wildlife Watch Philippines.
I also visited the Animal Welfare Room by PAWS and World Animal Protection since I am an animal lover myself. Aside from the welfare of cats and dogs, the room focused on how we can do better for farmed chickens. This includes giving them better space, light, and rest hours. We even got these cute chicken cup holders as souvenirs for visiting the experience room.
One of the experience rooms featured the launch of PYC Food Corporation and One World Deli’s ESG Program. The PYC Group of owner Jun Sy is one of the biggest food companies in the country with its concepts such as Pardon My French, One World Butchers, and One World Deli among others.
They are leading the private sector in promoting sustainability and traceability in the food industry. I was also happy to see Chef Nadine Howell once again who is one of the culinary heads at PYC Food Corporation.
We tried some of the dishes that PYC prepared for the evening. I really loved their Norwegian Salmon Sashimi which was arguably the freshest sashimi I had ever tasted.
They also served other sustainable and organic items such as the Clean Pork Belly Samgyupsal, the Steamed Fishta Pompano, Rotisserie Clean Chicken, and Jack's Creek Lechon Baka Ribs.
Christian was also busy welcoming all the guests and stakeholders. Over the past decade, the collective journey of the Philippine Sustainability Movement has been driven by a shared vision of more sustainable, transparent, and responsible Philippine food supply chains. This special occasion brings together government and NGO leaders, sustainability pioneers, hospitality and food industry representatives, and civil society for an inspiring afternoon of dialogue, learning, and collaboration on key aspects of ESG frameworks and sustainability in the food industry.
There were also different food and drink stations prepared by the participating hotels and sponsors. These included Marriott Manila, Hotel Okura, Sheraton Manila, and Shangri-La at the Fort. My first stop was at the big Fish Sisig Rice bowl using sustainable dory.
Next was the Szechuan Dumplings station which are renowned for their bold and complex flavors. These were a bit spicy but definitely full of flavors.
We also tried the Norwegian Salmon topped with cheese from Samba in Shangri-La at the Fort. It was a unique way of presenting salmon aside from the usual sashimi.
Sheraton Manila proudly displayed their own dishes including the Chicken Caesar Parmesan Crisp in Cones, Smoked Chicken Mango Roulade with Goat Cheese, Lemongrass Chicken Rice Paper Roll, and the Truffle Chicken Quiche.
The main attraction was Sheraton Manila's Jack's Creek Beef Short Ribs carving station. This was a very tender and tasty roast beef that everyone loved.
There were other sponsors for the event including wines from AWC Philippines, Calamansi iced tea from Goldena, and ice cream from Gelato Manila.
One of the items that surprised me was the tea selections from Tsaalaya. These very exquisite tea blends would make great Christmas gifts for the holidays.
We tried some of their samples for hot tea and even tea cocktails. I'm planning to purchase these for my holiday presents.
The event also featured an Oyster Shucking Competition which they have been holding for the past years. Oysters are also a vital part in the sustainability ecosystem with their filter-feeder roles.
Chef Robert Davis of Tempus Dining had won the previous editions so he was the defending champion to beat. Other chefs tried their best but in the end it was still Chef Davis who emerged as the champion oyster shucker.
After that, guests were treated to freshly-shucked Green Origin Irish Gallagher Oysters to complete the evening. We would like to congratulate Christian Schmidradner and the Marriott Manila team for continuing this worthy cause for the last ten years. Together we can all make the world a better place to live in.
