New products from Tilapia – tocino and longganisa!
Posted on March 11th, 2009
Tilapia has long been a favorite fish by the Filipinos. Now, two more new products from this fish have been developed and these are the tilapia longganisa and tilapia tocino. Both are now already out in the market. Cagayan Valley, which is a major producer of tilapia, even developed a tilapia longganisa and tocino processing plants to anticipate the growth of this industry.
Dr. Estelita L. Galanoga of the Cagayan State University (CSU) and Ritchie Rivera of the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – Region 2 (DA-BFAR-2) said that “the production of tocino and longganisa from tilapia offers consumers another variety of food products that are a healthy substitute for pork tocino and longganisa.â€
With the Ebola virus scare that broke out lately, even though they were already isolated, a substitute for the favorite pork products is definitely a good news.
The process, and technology involved, in the production of tilapia tocino and longganisa is quite simple, according to Galanoga and Rivera. It does not really require complicated equipments, and therefore could be adopted by small or medium scale entrepreneurs. Presently, these products are being produced in Cagayan to provide ready-to-cook food items for busy mothers.
They are available in vacuum-packed containers, and are sold to employees of BFAR and other agencies in the region. The products are also available at the office of the BFAR-Region 2, for those who are interested.
Technically speaking, the product is yet to be fully developed into an industry. It is still at its infancy stage. That is why Galanoga and Rivera stressed out some pointers to help sustain the development of the product.
They are requesting tilapia farmers to raise the fish in making the products to a size of 400 to 500 grams, so as to increase the recovery rate of fillet. Entrepreneurs who are looking into this as a future venture should make sure to find a regular source of tilapia, with stable price and consistent quality.
Needless to say, government will play a big role in the growth of this potential industry, as Galanoga and Rivera are requesting them to provide financial assistance to those interested in growing tilapia and processing value-added products.
