The Department of Science and Technology – Misamis Occidental turned over a check amounting to P1.9M to the Northwestern Mindanao State College of Science and Technology (NMSCST) on January 14, 2021, for scaling up food innovation within the city.

The project entitled, “MSMEs Improved Services and Operations for Competitive Communities thru Food Innovation Convergence (MISOCC-FIC)”, aims to capacitate NMSCST in its goal to aid MSMEs to innovate their food products for enhanced market competitiveness.

NMSCST has been the pioneering Higher Education Institute (HEI) in the province that engages in food innovation and research.

The funding under the MISOCC-FIC project will be for the procurement of the Spray Dryer and Vacuum Fryer equipment developed by the DOST-Metals Industry and Development Center (MIRDC).

The Spray Dryer technology turns liquid foods to solid lengthening the shelf life of various beverages and other food products. The Vacuum Fryer deep-fries food inside a closed system under reduced pressure making the final products crunchy with low fat and moisture content.

“This project will be a great help for the MSMEs in the province and for the NMSCST and its students. It will serve as one of the institution’s income-generating projects and more food products will be innovated”, said Dr. Herbert Glenn Reyes, NMSCST University President.

The facility will also serve as the Food Technology Laboratory for students enrolled in BS Industrial Technology major in Food Technology. (Kristel Alvarico, DOST-Misamis Occidental)