ILOILO City – The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), in collaboration with the city government, has launched a study aimed at delving into the batchoy industry, an iconic culinary staple of Iloilo.
Batchoy is known for its rich broth infused with noodles, beef stock, crushed pork cracklings, and innards.
The study is titled “Project Namit Gid: A Multi-Stakeholders’ Collaboration for Ilonggo’s Batchoy”.
A memorandum of agreement for the project was signed by Mayor Jerry Treñas, UP Visayas chancellor Clement Camposano, UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) executive director Dr. Rosalie Alcala-Hall, and Center for Western Visayan Studies director Frances Anthea Redison.
Lea Victoria Lara, director of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibits (MICE) of the city government, noted the lack of comprehensive research into the batchoy industry.
“This study aims to explore the historical trajectory and cultural significance of batchoy, assessing challenges such as maintaining authenticity and the availability of ingredients,” said Lara.
The project will also explore possibilities for innovation within the industry, including packaging and potential industry standards.
The first stakeholders meeting is scheduled for this month to assess the needs of batchoy producers and set the groundwork for future collaborations.
“I’m sure there are a lot of batchoy versions because it originated from a family business, so there are different recipes,” said Lara.
According to Lara, “What the study aims to do is determine if they have challenges. If there’s a danger of, maybe, losing their authenticity, availability of ingredients. UP is also into food technology, so they want to take a look maybe into packaging, how else can we innovate on the traditional thing.” (With a report from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
