Cebu Embrace Innovation at the Tastesetters Workshop 2026
Cebu City, Philippines – The Tastesetters Workshop successfully gathered culinary professionals and food innovators and entrepreneurs on June 10, 2026, at Caro and Marie, Cebu City, for a day filled with learning, creativity, and hands-on culinary innovation.
The workshop began with an insightful presentation of the 2026–2027 Trend Report by Chef Avery Manaloto, who discussed emerging food and consumer trends shaping the future of F&B industry. Participants gained valuable insights into how sustainability, local storytelling, and innovative product applications can influence menu development in the coming years.
Bringing these trends to life was Chef Celina David’s cooking demonstration featuring three Cebuano classics reimagined for today’s market: Tuslob Buwa Utanon, Torta ‘Gao, and Lamaw Apple Royale. While deeply rooted in Cebu’s culinary heritage, each dish showcased modern interpretations and thoughtful twists that aligned with the trends discussed earlier in the session. Chef Celina demonstrated how traditional flavors can be elevated and adapted to remain relevant to contemporary consumers while preserving their local identity.
The learning continued through the highly anticipated Market Basket Challenge, where participants had the opportunity to experience Tastesetters and SYSU products firsthand. Attendees were tasked with creating dishes using the featured products while incorporating key trends from the trend report discussion. The challenge highlighted the participants’ creativity, teamwork, and culinary expertise. Despite the limited preparation time, teams successfully developed multiple dishes, with some groups presenting as many as four unique creations. The activity served as a testament to how innovation can flourish when quality ingredients, emerging trends, and passionate food professionals come together.
The workshop was further enhanced through the support of Masflex, which generously provided cookware for participants to use during the challenge and contributed prizes that added excitement to the competition. Additional prizes from Sea King and other valued brand partners helped make the event even more rewarding and memorable for attendees.
Newest Brand Partner, JB Music:
A key contributor to the success of the Cebu workshop was our newest brand partner, JB Music, which provided the audio equipment that ensured every presentation and demonstration was delivered clearly and effectively. One of the challenges of conducting out-of-town workshops is maintaining excellent audio quality, particularly for trend presentations and cooking demonstrations where clear communication is essential. With a medium-sized venue like Caro and Marie, having reliable sound equipment was crucial. JB Music helped address this need by providing audio solutions that were not only easy to set up and travel-friendly—an important consideration when transporting equipment from Manila to Cebu and back—but also powerful enough to deliver outstanding sound quality throughout the venue. While professional audio equipment is often associated with concerts, music productions, and live performances, this partnership highlights its equally important role in educational and industry events where knowledge is shared through both visual and auditory experiences. Through JB Music’s support, participants were able to fully engage with every discussion, demonstration, and activity, making the learning experience even more impactful and enjoyable.
As the workshop concluded, participants left with fresh insights, practical applications, and renewed inspiration to incorporate both global trends and local flavors into their culinary creations. The Cebu leg of the Tastesetters Workshop once again demonstrated the power of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning in shaping the future of the Philippine food industry.
