Following a successful launch in Thailand, Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) is rolling out its highly anticipated 2025 edition of Future Menus across the Philippines, with a key stop in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO). This initiative aims to equip local food professionals and restaurant owners with the insights and tools needed to navigate the evolving culinary landscape in this dynamic “gateway to Northern Mindanao.”
The “Taste Kitchen” event, held by invitation at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel, gathered CDO-based food and business professionals. UFS chefs shared invaluable strategies on how local food businesses can future-proof their operations, particularly by leveraging the region’s rich natural resources, its position as a tourism hub, and the growing demand for diverse and authentic dining experiences. With CDO known for its vibrant food scene, fresh produce from Bukidnon, and a steady influx of tourists drawn to white water rafting and other adventures, there’s immense potential to innovate while celebrating local ingredients and culinary traditions. UFS is committed to helping businesses tap into these trends, transforming them into profitable menu items that appeal to both residents and visitors.
UFS Country Executive Chef Kenneth Cacho, alongside Senior Sous Chefs Carlos Aluning, J. Brando Santos, and Paulo Sia, joined special guests Joanna Yu (President of Bigby’s Group), Saz Chavez (President of Chali Group), and Jerome De La Fuente (General Manager of Limketkai Luxe Hotel & President of COHARA) in leading a series of engaging industry talks and live culinary demonstrations. Together, they brought to life the four key trends identified in the Future Menus 2025 report through practical, real-world applications—showing how these global insights can be adapted to Cagayan de Oro’s unique gastronomic identity.
“Now on its third year, Future Menus continues to evolve alongside the dynamic needs of the foodservice industry,” shares Sheala Ang, Operator Experience Manager at UFS Philippines. “We understand how challenging it is for chefs to keep menus fresh and relevant while adapting to ever-changing diner preferences. With insights from over 250 chefs globally, Unilever Food Solutions is committed to turning global trends into practical, profitable recipes that empower chefs to create future-ready dining experiences. For our partners in Cagayan de Oro, this means providing tailored support to enhance their menus, streamline operations, and ultimately, grow their businesses by attracting more diners who seek both familiar comfort and exciting new tastes that reflect the city’s unique blend of urban vibrancy and natural beauty.”
An In-Depth Look at the Future of Food
The UFS Future Menus 2025 report is more than just a trend guide—it’s a roadmap to success in a fast-changing culinary landscape. Featuring four global trends backed by research, chef insights, and actionable tips, the report helps operators meet evolving diner expectations for creativity and innovation. UFS provides the expertise and products to help your business implement these trends effectively, leading to increased customer satisfaction and profitability.
Street Food Couture
Traditional street foods are being elevated to gourmet offerings with chef expertise in every food service channel, including fine dining. Gen Z is a major driver of this trend, with 65% seeking value for money when it comes to food and dining experiences. With humble ingredients and cooking techniques like charcoal grilling, steaming, and wok hei, chefs are elevating favorites such as crepes, tacos, skewers, burritos, spring rolls, dumplings, bao buns, and Korean corn dogs. Imagine elevating Cagayan de Oro’s famous kinilaw or sinuglaw into a gourmet street food experience, or transforming the beloved pastel into a savory, elevated snack, attracting a wider clientele and showcasing local specialties.
Diner Designed
Diner Designed is all about putting personalization at the heart of the culinary experience, with growing demand for custom flavors and interactive dining. Emerging technologies like AI and AR are driving this trend forward by enabling immersive, multisensory meals. Diners now enjoy more control through techniques like table-side cooking, 3D printing, build-your-own dishes, and blowtorching. With 47% of people now preferring to spend money on experiences over material goods, UFS supports businesses with training, menu engineering, and the easy integration of menu trends.
Borderless Cuisine
Borderless Cuisine celebrates the fusion of global food traditions, driven by globalization, culinary tourism, and migration. This trend brings exciting new flavors and ingredients to the table while honoring authentic techniques and cultural roots. Dishes blend the old with the new, featuring standout ingredients like miso, kimchi, shiso, pomegranate, and calamansi to create fresh, yet respectful culinary experiences. Imagine introducing exciting international flavors while celebrating local produce and techniques: perhaps a surol-inspired pasta or a binaki-infused dessert with a global twist, creating unique and memorable dishes that stand out in CDO’s diverse culinary landscape.
Culinary Roots
Culinary Roots highlights a return to indigenous ingredients and hyperlocal cuisines, as chefs delve into forgotten recipes and traditional techniques to honor the regions they cook in. This trend is profoundly relevant for Cagayan de Oro and Northern Mindanao, encouraging the use of local, seasonal ingredients from Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental, and the revival of traditional Lumad or Higaonon-influenced dishes, appealing to a growing demand for authentic, regional flavors and supporting local farmers and producers.
The Cagayan de Oro “Taste Kitchen” event marks a significant step in UFS’s commitment to supporting food businesses in Northern Mindanao. Following this, UFS will continue to sample Future Menus for key cities across the country, including Nueva Ecija, Baguio, Cebu, and Davao.
Created for professional chefs, foodservice operators and even culinary students and home cooks, UFS Future Menus is an annual, data-driven global report and resource that identifies emerging food trends and provides chefs and foodservice operators with actionable insights, recipe ideas, and techniques to help chefs innovate menus and stay ahead in a competitive industry. The report combines extensive global data with direct input from Unilever’s network of professional chefs to offer guidance on emerging trends such as Street Food Couture, Diner Designed, Borderless Cuisine, and Culinary Roots.
