CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Philippines longest running ang biggest culinary show and festival outside Metro Manila opens today at the Limketkai Center Atrium.
“We are happy to have the highest number of schools competing this year, and expect even more next year as we celebrate Kumbira’s 30th Anniversary where we will recognize the people who started it and honor the posthumous drivers like Dorothy Jean Pabayo and Catalino “Butch” E. Chan III who helped bring it to unexpected heights,” said Jerome F. de la Fuente, president of the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA) which has been organizing Kumbira! for the last 28 years.
During the launching of the 28th edition of Kumbira! Culinary Show and Competitions last year, Norbert Gandler, chairman of the Board of Judges, remarked how things have changed so much since he moved here from Austria 35 years ago.
“The Philippines was not yet in the world map of culinary scene, but that has changed a lot. Now everybody talks about the Philippines, Filipino food, and of course, Filipino service, the most friendly in the world. This has a lot to do with the quality of Philippine chefs, and other working in the hospitality industry around the world who are known as the best employees,” Gandler noted.
Jeffrey Limbonhai, past president of the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA) which has successfully organized Kumbira! for the past three decades, acknowledged the need to continue learning and building on the Filipino’s beautiful heritage, culture and cuisine.
“We need to strive to move forward, and seek new ideas, innovative methods, and enhanced techniques. The past may remain the same, but the future will always change: trends fade, challenges arise,” Limbonhai observed.
“Palates are becoming more sensitive, more discerning, The market is becoming more educated with issues regarding climate change, sustainability, and cost cutting. We have the responsibility to improve ourselves so we may improve the world around us so this in turn will also benefit us,” he added.
Indeed, since its inception in 1996, Kumbira has been sharpening the kitchen knives of culinary students and professionals all over Mindanao, which has significantly contributed to the increasing demand for trained kitchen and hospitality staff here and abroad.
For Kumbira 2025, teams are competing in 22 Live Competitions such as Kumbira Masters, Cake Master, Bar Master, Junior Master Chef, Junior Cake Master, Flairtending, and Brand Competitions like Latte Art, Nutri Asia Locally Mix & Adobo Series, Nestle Maggi and Uratex Bed Making Competition, now on its second year.
There are 80 teams entered in the Professional Division, 258 in the Student Division, and 32 in the Open Division. The total number of competitors number 370.
Kumbira! Has also attracted 40 trade exhibitors and 10 vendors in the Food Gallery with 15 Confirmed Sponsors.
In a video message streamed from Bacolod City, Myrna Segismundo, Chairman of the National Food Showdown and a frequent Kumbira judge, while recognizing the rising global interest in Filipino cuisine, cautioned on the imperative need for a “major overhaul”.
“History and tradition will be our anchor and radar on this ship we adoringly call Kusina Filipina which has lately been making waves in the vast seas of world cuisine,” Segismundo noted.
However, she likewise warned of the need for a “major overhaul” of the world renowned Filipino hospitality and service, which has seen better days, since there are lots of problems happening in the dining rooms these days which really need looking into.
To help us keep our edge, she stressed the need for sustainability which equates to lower food costs, kitchen waste management, more use of local ingredients, and of course, better profits.
For his part, Gandler said the Board of Judges has included topics where competitors can score points for sustainability.
Another way through which Kumbira has been pushing sustainability in the industry is the professional judging the judges bring to the table.
“I think there is much more to winning medals and trophies in competitions like this. It should be about learning, about sharing ideas, which will then reflect in the industry,” he reflected.
Gandler shared how all judges conduct debriefings for the competitors after every competition where every entry is discussed, what was done well, where there was still room for improvement, where the coaches and teachers should also be present.
“Let us keep the momentum, stay the course, push the envelope further, full speed ahead na, all aboard na sa Kusina Filipina, let the showdown begin!” Segismundo exhorted.
KUMBIRA is the Philippines’ longest running live competition for students and professionals, and largest culinary show outside of Metro Manila which has been staged by COHARA for the past 28 years. A prelude event dubbed Hala Kumbira! Food Festival was held on August 16, 2025 at the Rotunda Limketkai center to officially launch this year’s festival.
With the family culinary tradition established by the old families of the city in tandem with the new breed of yuppie entrepreneurs and professional chefs, the City of Golden Friendship appears to have the right combination of ingredients to ensure its place in Filipino culinary heritage.
However, the Cagayan de Oro Hotels and Restaurant Association (COHARA) is taking one step further to ensure that heritage remains true to its roots and the latest developments are tucked into the fold with the establishment of Kumbira! probably the first but definitely biggest culinary show outside Metro Manila.
Now in its 29th year, Kumbira’s biggest followers are the budding chefs and entrepreneurs of Mindanao’s academe for which it has unfailingly served as a source of inspiration for both the student and professionals of the industry alike.
With COHARA committed to the continued upgrading and professionalization of the city’s culinary industry, the Kagay-anons can rest easy: the future of its culinary legacy is assured of being passed on in the way it was meant to be to the next generation.
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