If you are thinking of establishing a food business or if you want to improve your present food venture, then the Manila Food and Beverage Expo is an event you should not miss. The event is from June 20 to 24, 10am to 8pm at the World Trade Center.

A full line up of activities are in store. Several helpful seminars should not be missed. These include:

June 21

• How to learn food carving
• Successful stories in the food industry
• Global franchise marking: buying the right franchise

June 22

• Franchie advantage
• Fruit preservative
• How to start a catering business

June 23

• Restaurant accounting and controls
• Food shelf life

All seminars are FREE. Several competitions and cooking demonstrations are also ongoing throughout the expo.

If you love retail, then a convenience store business like 7-11 maybe for you. First, you’ll need Php 3 to 7 million as an investment. This include operational rights to a store, equipment, facilities, and initial inventory.

You need not have a location. You can choose among the existing stores that are available for franchise. 7-11 will provide the required training program which is approximately 6 weeks.

Interested? Email 7-11 franchising for more information. Or visit the 7-11 website

In my last post, I mentioned that the peso may have reached its peak. Since that day, the Peso continued to appreciate to Php 47.26 to the dollar.

The strength of the peso is due to the weakness of the dollar. Across all other currencies, the American dollar is at its all time low. America is in some financial trouble.

In a survey by Workabroad.ph, 55% of Filipinos views the rise of the peso as unfavorable as it lessens the purchasing power of remittance. 45% responded that this is a favorable scenario as it meant a strong economy.

So do I take my word back? Not until the peso has dropped below 46.

Just as predicted last year by HSBC, the Peso has appreciated to Php 47.50 a few weeks ago. Will the Peso continue to gain against the Dollar?

I believe the Peso has reached its peak. The Banko Sentral will not allow our currency to strengthen further to the detriment of exporters. Its time to buy Dollars now at its lowest. The will hover at this range for a while until something happens to our economy or the world economy again.