PERSPECTIVES | Michael Gillis
For many years we were hoping to see a Filipino newspaper that focused on Western Australia. It was an exciting day for us when The PinoyStrayan outlined their plans to make this a reality, and with this first edition, we salute them for their efforts.
We hope that the Filipino community will embrace this opportunity to come together and share their stories and experiences with each other. Too often, we have seen organisations trying to get out a message but only being able to communicate with their members. Now there is no excuse why they cannot get access to the entire community throughout Western Australia and soon the rest of Australia.
This is also an opportunity for suppliers to get their message out to consumers. We encourage companies that may benefit from the advertising advantages offered by this newspaper to embrace and support it.
One of the many benefits of this newspaper is that it gives us the ability to answer questions that are often raised. This morning for example we were asked why Reno Liver Spread is not available especially since so many people love it.
The reason for this is that the meat used in processing food coming into Australia must come from a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) free country and an import permit is required. Reno does meet these requirements.
Currently, there are two brands of liver spread from the Philippines available in Australia. The market leader Purefoods uses beef from Australia while Argentina informs us they use water buffalo from India in their product.
Many people want to know why they cannot get their much-loved Purefoods or Swift Hot Dog here in Australia. Once again it is a requirement that the meat must come from an FMD-free country but also it must be retorted. This means that the hot dogs would have to be cooked in their packaging which would ruin them. Pure Foods and Swift have been trying to come up with a solution to this for several years and we are confident they will come up with something.
Editor’s Note: Michael Gillis and his wife, Hermie, own and run Castleglen Enterprises, the Number One importer and supplier of Philippine food and toiletry products in Western Australia.
Castleglen supplies the widest range of dry and frozen Filipino goods, as well as health and beauty products from the Philippines to Asian grocery stores and food retailers throughout WA. In addition to their own branded products, Castleglen stocks the major premier brands from the Philippines such as Barrio Fiesta, C2, Century, Datu Puti, Del Monte, Jack’n Jill, Knorr, Lady’s Choice, Leslie, Lucky Me, Magic Melt, Mama Sita’s, Magnolia, Oishi, Pure Foods, Regent, Sanmig, Skyflakes, Silver Swan, and Unilever.
To accommodate the growing demand, Castleglen continually expands its range of products, carefully selected for their quality and passed on to consumers in WA at the best and most competitive prices.
As far as being an effective purveyor of information, it will be an understatement to say that Michael Gillis can offer perspectives that far exceed the purview of Castleglen’s business. The PinoyStrayan is proud to have Michael Gillis on board to provide regular commentary on a broad range of issues that impact the Filipino community.
