Latest from inventors’ kitchen: Canned goat

MANILA, Philippines — Goat dishes much loved by Filipinos as appetizers for beer have been put in a can and vacuum packs to boost their accessibility in the country as well as to millions of overseas Filipino workers.

Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña has cited the goat meat processing and packaging technology developed by a team of researchers led by Jonathan Nayga of the Isabela State University (ISU).

Dela Peña said one of the latest exciting technologies developed by Filipino inventors has placed adobong kambing, kilawing kambing and kalderetang kambing in ready-to-eat packets.

“It’s really ready for commercialization,” Dela Peña said of the traditional goat dishes ranging from stewed to poached.

In an inspirational message last month during the National Inventors Week (NIW) 2017, Dela Peña assured the inventors that the Department of Science and Technology was encouraging inventors and innovators to go into product commercialization. The celebration organized by the DOST Region 2, the Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative (FISPC) and the Cauayan City government headed by Mayor Bernard Faustino Dy was held at the F.L. Dy Coliseum in Isabela.

Nayga, director of the Cagayan Valley Small Ruminants Research Center at the ISU-Echague campus, has developed a process for the production of canned or vacuum- packed adobong kambing, kilawing kambing and kalderetang kambing, in the traditional delicious Ilocano way that has a shelf life of 18 months.

Nayga said the packaging technology of goat meat dishes does not require preservatives. “There’s no preservatives, but it could last for one and a half years,” he told The STAR.

The ISU team of Nayga has come up with the “Chevon Valley” brand for the initial three flavors or dishes and has applied for a trademark copyright as well as a patent with the Intellectual Property Office.

Nayga said the vacuum-packed goat product has three classes that include prime cuts, sinampalukan (tamarind-flavored) and pinapaitan (bitter). 

Ricmar Aquino, ISU president, said that they were looking to spin off a manufacturing company that will commercialize the goat dish in can or vacuum pack as developed by Nayga.

Aquino said that they were tapping the help of the FISPC, headed by its president and chief executive officer Francisco Pagayon, as they work on the spinoff of a goat products manufacturing and packaging company.

NIW 2017 was the product of close collaboration among the DOST, the FISPC, the Cauayan City government and the ISU. 

Envisioned to become the top cooperative in the country in promoting and recognizing Filipino inventions globally, FISPC has been celebrating the NIW since 1993 through Presidential Proclamation No. 285.

The weeklong activity aims not just to celebrate and honor the milestones and significant contributions of the Filipino inventor-entrepreneurs – or inventrepreneurs – but also to promote and mainstream their inventions and innovations in the countryside.