By JOHN MAICO M. HERNANDEZ
THE town of Mabini, known for Tablea Industry, has now greater reason to grow cacao trees and revive its industry as Mabini Tablea Food Producers (MABLEA) engaged themselves in a training on tablea-based products processing initiated by Soroptimist International (SI) Mabini and DOST Batangas held at Nik-Nik’s Restaurant Function Hall, Mabini, Batangas, very recently.
Processing tablea to give it a new taste is an attempt to provide tourists of Mabini a remarkable tastebuds-satisfying experience. This effort is projected to benefit MABLEA with a strong livelihood that could also embark another pride of the locality. But more than these, this principally aims to revive the tablea industry of which the locality is known for.
MABLEA, a women’s organization formed and adopted by SI Mabini, is one among the nation in capacitating skills and abilities of women to mobilize it into enterprise development that will address unemployment and poverty in a large scale. As women population constitutes around 50% of the world population, their participation in socio-economic development is indeed a leap forward in realizing an equitable, peaceful and more prosperous society.
SI is one of the many organizations in the world that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. One of their goals is to make their fellow as active partners of the society in nation building. They would like to share their resources for the establishment of a sustainable women community organization in Mabini. Through partnership with DOST Batangas, this undertaking in benefit of MABLEA was done.
Gearing towards technology provision that will entail a new brand of enterprise, DOST Batangas tapped experts from the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the University of the Philippines Los Baños for product development using tablea. Tablea flan, tabnut, tablea cookies, tablea powder drink, tablea choco spread and tablea caramel candy were the products trained to MABLEA members-participants. Experts, Ms. Claire Zubia, Ms. Adeliza Dorado and Mr. Romel Felismino, discussed and demonstrated the processing of these products.
Participants showed enthusiasm in pulling off the tablea-based enterprise. Since they are the first to use the recipe, participants were excited to bring out their products to market. SI Mabini, on the other hand, put up plans on the establishment of processing plant of the organization.
Meanwhile, good manufacturing practices to uphold product quality and consistency including products’ health benefits, costing, product packaging and labeling were also imparted to participants. Trained participants evidenced learning thru satisfactory demonstration results. Meanwhile, trainors, motivated MABLEA members to strengthen their venture in tablea-based products processing because of its extensive market potential. In fact, the province of Batangas produces one of the best cacaos in the Philippines, due to its suitable tropic weather.|#BALIKAS_News
