Sandugo OTOP Trade expo

sales shot 47% past target

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)— Topping over 47% of its sales last year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the reports P36.646 million in sales after seven days of selling in this year’s Sandugo One-Town One-Product (OTOP) Trade Expo 2026 July 14-19, 2026 at the Island City Mall here.

DTI Bohol Provincial Director Vierna Teresa Chiu-Ligan said with a total sales of P23.254 million last year, it is customary for the DTI to add 7 percent to the actual sales of the year to peg its sales target for 2026.

Hitting and surpassing the P25million sales target this year is definitely a tough climb, mostly because relying on walk-in retail shoppers alone won't get us through. The real test was in driving high-value institutional buyers and maintaining exhibitor momentum, she shared a day before the selling closed.

Originally organized as a few booth provincial products showcase in 1989, it was envisioned to give Boholano craftsmen and food processors who were hand held by the DTI in their products design and development, a venue to display their products during the annual Sandugo festivities.

But offered with the regularity and persistence of clockwork by the DTI Bohol and the support of the local government units under the Provicnial Government, the Sandugo provincial fair eventually became one of the Philippines' longest-running provincial trade fairs.

Across the years and over countless mentoring, technical assistance and product design sessions, the trade fair graduated into a showcase of the best that Bohol's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can offer to the world.

Not long later, when the DTI introduced the One-town One Product (OTOP) concept, towns got motivated to look at supplying the home decors in hotel and restaurants and eventually in the wearables that tourists find worth bringing out as souvenir.

Conducted in conjunction with the province's Sandugo Festival every July, the expo promotes locally made products while connecting entrepreneurs with domestic and international buyers.

With the OTOP brand showcased in 2005 and the tourism boom which Bohol experienced in the past years, the Sandugo Trade Expo grew into a must-join expo by MSMEs across the regions.

Every year, MSME exhibitors from across the country eagerly anticipate the Sandugo OTOP Trade Expo as it serves as a premier venue for achieving their vital market objectives, DTI said.

This year, with 162 exhibitors bringing in the best in furniture, health and wellness, processed foods, ‘wearables’ and ‘homestyles’ from across 12 regions in the country, and after 7 days, cash and booked sales reached P36, 646, 248.00, DTI reports.

In the same trade expo was the special participation of the Philippine Coconut Authority’s assisted MSMEs putting up their products in the special installation at the Coconut Pavilion.

As usual, furniture collected the most in cash and booked sales at P 16,693,038, followed by Wearables and Homestyles at 10,368,135, according to the DTI sales reports.

Coming in at a very close third is processed food with 9,144,530.00 in sales while wellness and heath exhibitors had 440,545.00 after 7 days.

In fact, if the under negotiations sales were included, the Sandugo sales reports would have P43,457,431.

With the maturity of the provincial fair, DTI Bohol now partnered with a private sector partner to host the trade expo, which also proved the growing independence and the confidence of MSMEs in going with a private partner.

To this, DTI Bohol said the phenomenal success of the 2026 Sandugo Trade Expo would not be without the Alturas Group of Companies, specifically Island City Mall, for their unwavering support to the local products of our MSMEs.

By stepping up as a major institutional buyer, Alturas does far more than help us meet our event sales targets. Their commitment serves as a powerful catalyst, opening doors for our local MSMEs to expand their reach and successfully penetrate wider, mainstream markets, PD Ligan added.

When in 1989, the Sandugo Trade Fair pegged its goal to give Boholano artisans and food processors a venue to display their products during the Sandugo festivities, this year, it has satisfactorily done that and, in fact, went beyond. (PIABohol)

THE COCONUT PAVILION. A special set-up during the Sandugo OTOP Trade expo was the Coconut Pavilion, with exhibitors assisted by the government’s coconut industry development funds. The pavilion also reportedly racked sales nearing a million. (PIAbohol)