LuLu Hypermarket celebrates Philippines Independence Day with ‘Pinoy Fiesta’

In celebration of the Philippines Independence Day, LuLu Hypermarket has launched ‘Pinoy Fiesta’, a grand retail festival featuring the best-loved Filipino culinary and speciality products.

The promotion will run until June 18 across all LuLu stores in Qatar, highlighting top ‘Pinoy’ food brands like Mama Sita’s, UFC, Datu Puti, Purefoods, Lemon Square, Magnolia, Selecta, Jack N’ Jill, Goldilocks, Mother’s Best, Del Monte, Silka, and Century.

The festival was inaugurated by Philippine ambassador Lillibeth V Pono at LuLu Hypermarket, Barwa City branch.

The ceremony was attended by officials from the Philippine embassy and other dignitaries, including Dr Mohamed Althaf, director, LuLu Group, other senior officials from LuLu Hypermarket, as well as leading Filipino business groups operating in Qatar.

The festival offers a wide range of high-quality agricultural produce and food products from the Philippines, including an array of sauces, noodles, delicacies, and packaged foods.

These products are carefully curated for LuLu by the group’s own sourcing office in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines, enabling LuLu to offer them at the most affordable prices.

Speaking at the event, Pono said: “First of all, I would like to thank the management and executives of LuLu for organising this wonderful event. I feel overwhelmed by the display of your affection for Filipinos. There is an enormous variety of Filipino products on your shelves; LuLu understands Filipino culture, and understanding Filipino culture through food is very important in understanding the people.

“The relationship shared by LuLu and the Philippines is a partnership. LuLu employs many Filipino workers and promotes a wide variety of Filipino products, making it both an economic and cultural partnership, which is a microcosm of the partnership between the Philippines and Qatar. The presence of LuLu in the Philippines, as well as the presence of Filipino workers and our products here, reflects the strength of our relations with Qatar.”

She also thanked LuLu Hypermarket for participating in the celebration of the 126th anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippines Independence by holding the festival.

LuLu Group has longstanding business relations with the Philippines and, as a leading retailer in the region, has always been a major source of employment for Filipino nationals.

The Philippine embassy and POLO are working closely with them to enrich the sharing of skillsets and economic opportunities between the Philippines and the LuLu network worldwide.

Speaking on the sidelines of the festival, Althaf said: “We have been celebrating ‘Pinoy Fiesta’ every year, and this reflects the importance of the Philippines to LuLu; it is a very symbiotic relationship for a variety of reasons. In terms of business operations, one of the strongest backbones of our operations at LuLu is our Filipino colleagues. Another reason is that across the GCC, specifically in Qatar, LuLu is the top shopping destination for Filipinos.

“We believe that the majority of Philippine businesses are partnering with LuLu, and Filipinos are also a very large customer base for us because of the thriving Filipino community here. Besides, Filipino food is always in demand in Qatar.”

The inaugural ceremony was enlivened by live musical and cultural performances by students from the Philippine School Doha (PSD).

Special attention has been paid to stocking the aisles of LuLu stores with a diverse array of high-quality agricultural produce and Filipino food products imported from the Philippines. Visitors can also indulge in speciality ‘Pinoy’ delights, such as adobo, kare-kare, beef sisig, ‘shanghai lumpia’, and more at LuLu’s Hot Foods section.