NOVEMBER 2022 — Almost every Filipino family regularly serves sardines – a simple yet nutritious dish that Pinoys have always loved. As a gesture of its appreciation to Filipinos and their enduring love for sardines, Mega Sardines, the #1 sardines brand in the Philippines, distributed by Mega Prime Foods Inc. (MPFI), led the celebration of National Sardines Day last November 24.
This year’s celebration, with the theme FieSSSta – Sarap, Sustansya, at Saya, marks the fourth consecutive year that Mega Sardines is holding National Sardines Day, a fun event involving the media, industry partners, stakeholders, and all those who love sardines.
An online media event kicked off the day’s festivities, with Mega Sardines and MPFI executives apprising the media and select influencers about the company’s various initiatives, particularly Mega Bigay Sustansya, a program started in 2019 aimed at helping alleviate malnutrition in the country through the provision of healthy meals made with Mega Sardines to less fortunate children in various locations in the country.
Among those who spoke at the media event were representatives of Reach Out Feed Philippines (ROFP), who presented highlights of the Mega Bigay Sustansya Year 4 program; the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 4-A (DSWD Region 4-A), who acknowledged the program’s impact on the community; the Department of Science and Technology – Food Nutrition and Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), who discussed the feedback from the Mega Bigay Sustansya’s nutrition training workshop; and Marvin Tiu Lim, MPFI’s Chief Growth and Development Officer, who shared how their employee volunteer program has brought positive change to the lives of beneficiaries.
For its fourth year this year, Mega Bigay Sustansya, in a span of 120 days, was able to provide a total of 160,800 meals for lunch and snacks for the 670 beneficiaries in 7 areas, namely NCR; Palayan City, Nueva Ecija; Infanta, Quezon; Leyte; Culion, Palawan; Sapian, Capiz; and Zamboanga. The 670 beneficiaries were children aged 4 to 12 years old. From July to October, the percentage of children who have normal nutritional status increased from 58.95% to 78.29%. Wasting among the beneficiaries decreased from 21.20% to 16.48% while severe wasting dropped from 19.85% to 5.23%.
Mega Sardines, MPFI, and the partners happily shared all the great news with the media attendees as they discussed it, followed by a series of games and raffles.
An event on Facebook Live followed the media conference, also streamed on Shopee. DJ Nicole Hyala hosted the event which consisted of a fast-paced series of talks, shows, and games. Among the guests was TikTok star Hazel Cheffy, who demonstrated how to cook a special and sumptuous Sardines Rangoon using Mega Sardines, a dish that anyone can prepare and enjoy.
There were also lots of fun games such as Lata o Pera, Parol Game, and Christmas Singing Bee with cash prizes for the viewers. Capping the celebrations was a Grand Raffle, with the winners walking away with loads of rewards such as free Mega Sardines products, cash, and gadgets.
A TikTok dance challenge was also launched where participants are to dance to the upbeat and festive National Sardines Day jingle, with lyrics sung to the tune of a popular Filipino Christmas song.
By celebrating National Sardines Day, Mega Sardines is able to share the love for sardines with everyone and is able to honor sardines as an everlasting kitchen/pantry staple to be enjoyed by Filipinos for many more years to come.
“Mega Sardines and Mega Prime Foods Inc. are ever grateful to the Filipino public for their staunch support throughout the years. This is why we always endeavor to give back, and these celebrations and activities are one way for us to let the public and our partners know our malasakit for them, and that we are committed to supporting them,” concluded Marvin Tiu Lim.
For more information and updates about Mega Sardines’ 4th National Sardines Day, check out their official Facebook page.
