OM EVENTS
WOFEX 2026: What Happened at the Philippines’ Biggest Food Expo?
Held from July 29 to August 1, 2026, WOFEX Manila occupied two major venues simultaneously: the World Trade Center Manila and the SMX Convention Center Manila in Pasay City. The four-day event combined trade exhibitions, culinary competitions, educational sessions, product demonstrations, and opportunities for businesses to connect with potential suppliers and partners.
Happening concurrently with the trade show, WOFEX also hosted the 16th Philippine Culinary Cup (PCC), where professional chefs and culinary students took a chance to compete under Worldchefs standards.
The event had an extra point of interest for Our Market as two of our partners, Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes and Unox, were among the brands that demonstrated their expertise on the show floor.
WOFEX 2026 Highlights
When and Where Was WOFEX 2026?
WOFEX Manila 2026 ran from July 29 to August 1, 2026, operating from 10 AM to 7 PM. The first three days were primarily trade days, while the last day also opened the event to the general public.Held at the World Trade Center and SMX Convention Center, the two-venue format divided the exhibition according to different areas of the food industry.
The SMX was designated for the food and beverage category, including meat, condiments, confectionery, coffee, tea, and others, while the World Trade Center showcased equipment, ingredients, food processing, packaging, manufacturing, cold-chain solutions, and other business-focused exhibitors.
Annually, the event brings together about 450 industry suppliers, making it a major sourcing and networking event for the Philippine food sector.
The Philippine Culinary Cup: One of the Biggest Highlights
One of the biggest attractions for culinary professionals was the 16th Philippine Culinary Cup, which took place during all four days of the event.
The PCC is organized by WOFEX in partnership with the LTB Philippines Chefs Association and is the country's only culinary competition approved by the World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs), the global chefs' organization.
This year's competition drew more than 1,200 participants from hotels, restaurants, and culinary schools. The University of Santo Tomas' College of Tourism and Hospitality Management reported that competitors were evaluated by 60 international judges.
The competition included both professional and student-focused challenges, spanning savory cooking, pastry, cakes, desserts, and other culinary disciplines.
2026 Philippine Culinary Cup categories included:
• Filipino Cuisine Challenge
• Young Chefs Team Challenge
• Dream Team
• Modern Filipino Dessert
• Pasta
• Creative Breakfast
• Cupcakes and Muffins
• Wedding Cake Display
• Dress the Cake
• Amuse Bouche
• U.S. Beef
• U.S. Pork
• French Touch Challenge
Who won the Philippine Culinary Cup 2026?
The biggest result came from City of Dreams Manila, which was named the Overall Champion of the 16th Philippine Culinary Cup 2026 .
City of Dreams Manila's culinary team prevailed in a field of more than 1,000 competitors, making the overall title one of the major stories to come out of this year's competition.
The competition also produced numerous individual and team medalists.
For example, the University of Santo Tomas CTHM delegation finished with 11 medals.
NUSTAR Resort Cebu also made its mark, taking home five bronze medals from its representatives: Ma Paulyne Orbuda for Chocolate Showpiece, Eduardo Natividad Jr. for Bread Pastry Showpiece, Michael Navaja and Josevil Andales for Amuse Bouche, Arran Paul Pascua and William Moran Jr. for Canadian Pork and Beef, and Jesrael Rodriguez and Christian Clint Andrino for Filipino Cuisine.
WOFEX beyond the trade show ?
While the PCC supplied plenty of drama for serious culinary fans, WOFEX itself remained focused on the business side of food. The exhibition gave suppliers a place to introduce new ingredients, machinery, packaging, food products, and technologies directly to buyers and decision-makers.
WOFEX also hosted WOFEX University , offering educational tracks for professionals working in different areas of foodservice. At the SMX, the 2026 program included the Coffee Series on July 29, which offered sessions about dynamic coffee business. For essential knowledge on operating a restaurant, there were the Kitchen Management track on July 30 and the Resto Industry track on July 31.
At the World Trade Center, the Baking Biz track, a guide for bakeshop operations, and the Meats Track, a session on advanced processing, preservation, and commercial production techniques, were held from July 31 to August 1.
The Kitchen Theater also served as a platform for live demonstrations and discussions about ingredients, equipment, techniques, and food trends, featuring local and global ingredients and various culinary innovations.
Queen Of Hearts Couture Cakes brings buttercream art to WOFEX
One of the partners represented at WOFEX 2026 was Chefs Valeri Valeriano and Christina Ong of Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes .Based in London and the Philippines, the duo has been transforming buttercream into an artistic medium since 2011, marking 15 years of having grown from their early beginnings in a small studio into an internationally recognized name in cake decorating. They are award-winning instructors and creators with four bestselling buttercream books translated into several languages.
During the 2026 WOFEX, they brought this specialty through three demonstrations.
On July 30, Valeri and Christina conducted a Palette Knife Painting Technique demonstration at the World Trade Center with Peotraco Food Inc. It was an exciting session that combined a free tasting, live demonstration, chef meet-and-greet, and recipe-focused activity.
The following day, the duo moved to Mix Plant, Inc.'s booth at the same venue for a Flower Piping Mini Hands-On Class. The session invited participants to decorate their own chiffon cupcake using Mix Plant butter cake mix and buttercream, putting a floral spin on the cupcake.
On the last day, Valeri and Christina brought Ube Chewy Cookie to the Easy Booth and taught mock ube halaya cream cheese in less than 5 minutes, with a creamy filling that is not excessively sweet.
Unox shows peak commercial kitchen technology
Top Italian manufacturer of professional cooking equipment Unox also actively participated in WOFEX, bringing its highly rated professional cooking and food-preservation technologies for foodservice operations.Cheftop Mind.Maps Countertop Plus, Evereo, Speed.Compact Eco, and Bakerlux Shop.Pro are some of the products that were showcased—exhibiting developments that provide valuable benefits to food businesses, such as service time reduction, labor cost reduction, organoleptic quality, waste reduction, and more.
The team was led by its Marketing Development Specialist, Alphie Tabuzo, who has honed culinary skills and helped bring Unox technologies to the right consumers through events and trade shows like WOFEX.
The Unox Cheftop line features combi ovens designed for cooking with multiple methods, including roasting, grilling, frying, browning, and steaming. This is the embodiment of Unox’s positioning as a brand centered around versatility, precision, and consistency.
Called “The Hot Fridge,” Evereo was another major piece of equipment featured. Unlike a conventional oven, Evereo is designed as a hot food preservation system, allowing prepared food to be held under controlled conditions while maintaining quality for service.
Representing the high-speed side of the Unox lineup, the SPEED.Compact Eco boasted efficient operations where rapid preparation and service are essential.
Unox also showcased the Bakerlux Shop.Pro as suitable equipment for bakery and foodservice applications.
The Unox Bakerlux Shop.Pro is best in providing fast, reliable, and high-volume commercial convection baking, specifically optimized for baking frozen bakery and pastry products in tight-schedule retail spaces like coffee shops and convenience stores.
Events like WOFEX help businesses source, network, and explore technology, education, and competitions in one place. It’s worth anticipating what brands like Unox and Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes will come up with for the following years.
