Aboitiz Foods wins top honors at AmCham Corporate Social Impact Awards

In Photo: Meaningful impact, lasting value. Aboitiz Foods’ Corporate Social Responsibility team received the Impact Excellence Award for Project Silk, the highest award given at the AmCham Philippines’ Corporate Social Impact Awards, honoring the most outstanding and transformative program among this year’s best-in-class initiatives.

MAKATI, Philippines – In a defining moment for its community impact work, Aboitiz Foods swept major wins at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines’ (AmCham) 2nd Corporate Social Impact (CSI) Awards, securing top distinctions for its CSR initiatives.

Aboitiz Foods’ food and agribusiness company in the Philippines, Pilmico Foods Corporation (Pilmico), received the highest honor, the Impact Excellence Award, for Project Silk, distinguishing it as the most outstanding and transformative program among all Gold Awardees from the 2025 cycles. Project Silk also won the Gold Award for the Economic Empowerment and Livelihood Development category, while the Adopt-A-City Program earned the Silver Award for Community Impact and Civic Engagement.

“We are profoundly inspired by these recognitions, which affirm Aboitiz Foods’ core belief: that creating lasting value must extend beyond the company to nourish the future of the communities we work with,” said Pamela Lynne Liwag, Aboitiz Foods’ Assistant Vice President for Brand & Reputation Management, adding, “Our CSR initiatives are far more than just giving back; they embody our commitment to making a transformative, meaningful impact by cultivating a more sustainable future for generations to come.”

Held on November 19, 202, at the Makati Diamond Residences and co-presented with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines, this year’s AmCham CSI Awards carried the theme “Stronger Together for People, Planet, and Progress,” honoring organizations that exemplify leadership in community empowerment, sustainability, and inclusive progress across six award categories.

Project Silk’s wins underscore the collective work of Aboitiz Foods and the thousands of corn farmers they partner with year after year. Beyond the numbers, the program has helped farmers strengthen their enterprises, improve their earnings, and gain the confidence to grow as entrepreneurs.

The Adopt-A-City Program, meanwhile, exemplifies what is possible when the local government, academe, communities, and the private sector work together with a shared purpose. Through close collaboration with the City Government of Iligan, the program has strengthened disaster preparedness, broadened community participation, and created safer, more resilient communities.

“What we are most proud of is that these programs are not just company-led—they are co-created with farmers, cooperatives, local governments, national agencies, NGOs, and community partners. Their contributions and trust have made these impact stories possible. This recognition belongs to them as much as it does to us,” said Katrina Angelie Bayog-Mercado, Aboitiz Foods’ Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, in her award acceptance speech.

Project Silk: A Model for Shared Value and Sector Empowerment

Launched in 2017, Project Silk is Aboitiz Foods’ inclusive corn sourcing and farmer capability-building initiative supporting over 2,800 farmers across Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Tarlac. The program helps strengthen farmer enterprises through training, improved market access, and sustained partnerships.

At the core of this project is providing a sure market for corn farmers’ produce. Pilmico directly sources a portion of its corn requirements from partner cooperatives, providing farmers with a dependable buyer and fair prices, while also allowing them to sell the remainder of their harvest to other agribusinesses. Beyond market assurance, the program also helps equip farmers with the skills and confidence to run their farms as sustainable businesses—ensuring they remain competitive and self-reliant in the future.

One of the project’s recent milestones is the development of a Post-Harvest Facility built in partnership with the Iligan City local government. The facility helps farmers reduce crop loss, improve grain quality, and consistently meet feed mill standards—leading to better market prices and stronger resilience against weather disruptions.

To date, Project Silk has generated over PHP49 million in cumulative corn sales and helped increase farmer revenues by more than 1,500%, demonstrating how long-term partnerships can uplift livelihoods while strengthening Aboitiz Foods’ mill-to-meal operations.

Adopt-A-City: Strengthening Disaster Preparedness and Civic Engagement

Adopt-A-City, co-implemented by Pilmico Foods Corporation, the local government of Iligan City, National Resilience Council Foundation, and  Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, is an ongoing public-private-people partnership aimed at strengthening disaster resilience by advancing science-based tools and solutions, engaging multiple stakeholders, and promoting inclusive governance systems that help the city prepare for, adapt to, and recover from climate and disaster risks.

Since its launch in 2022, the program has achieved significant milestones, including raising Iligan’s resilience score to 84.38% from a near-zero baseline and a Gawad KALASAG Fully Compliant Award, the country’s highest honor for disaster preparedness.

Through the Adopt-A-City Program, Iligan City is now emerging as a model for resilience not only in Mindanao but throughout the country – demonstrating Aboitiz Foods’ belief that resilience is a shared responsibility.

Anchored to its brand purpose of sustainably feeding Asia’s growth from mill to meal, Aboitiz Foods’ CSR programs like Project Silk and Adopt-A-City demonstrate how the company’s values of integrity, teamwork, innovation, and responsibility translate into real impact on the ground. These initiatives exemplify how agribusinesses can be a catalyst for inclusive growth—proving that when business and communities move forward together, shared progress follows. #