Japanese Food Suppliers in the Philippines: Sourcing Guide for Restaurants (2026)

The Philippines has the third largest number of JETRO certified Japanese Food Supporter Stores in the world after Australia and Hong Kong, but its supply chain for Japanese ingredients is thinner than the store count suggests. Metro Manila has a handful of Japanese and Asian importers that sell to restaurants, one wine and spirits house that carries most of the sake, a few specialty grocers that fly in Japanese fish, and Japanese equipment makers with offices in Pasig and Makati. Cebu is served from Manila warehouses. Four agencies sit behind every delivery: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses importers of processed food and registers each product, the Bureau of Customs accredits the importer, the Department of Agriculture bureaus (BFAR for fish, BPI for rice, BAI and NMIS for meat) issue import clearances, and the Bureau of Customs collects excise tax on sake at the border. This guide covers the suppliers Japanese restaurants in the Philippines use, the rules behind each category, what Japan actually ships to the country, the items that stay hard to source, and the retail shops worth knowing for small kitchens.

Washoku Agent works with Japanese restaurants across 26 countries on chef recruitment and operations. The information below is compiled from the suppliers’ own websites and official sources, checked on 2026-10-14; confirm current pricing, minimum orders and delivery areas directly with each supplier, and check regulations with the authority named.

Import rules you need to know

• The FDA requires two authorizations before any processed food product can be released in the Philippine market: a License to Operate (LTO), granted to manufacturers, repackers, importers, distributors, wholesalers and traders, and a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) for each product, which checks the product’s safety and quality against the applicable standards. Both have been required since the FDA Act of 2009 (RA 9711). (FDA Philippines, press statement on the registration of processed food, checked October 2026)
• Administrative Order 2014-0029 covers food establishments engaged in the manufacture or distribution (import, export or wholesale), trade or repacking of processed food. It does not cover fresh or raw food from plants, animals, fisheries and aquaculture, which stay with the Department of Agriculture, nor restaurants, supermarkets, catering and wet markets, which are regulated by local government units. An importer that sells to the general public is treated as a retailer. (DOH/FDA, Administrative Order No. 2014-0029, Rules and Regulations on the Licensing of Food Establishments and Registration of Processed Food, September 2014)
• Alcoholic beverages are food products for FDA purposes. In a public health warning the FDA listed an imported alcoholic beverage among unregistered food products for which no CPR had been issued, and reminded establishments that importing, selling or distributing a health product without the proper authorization is prohibited under RA 9711. A product’s registration can be checked with the search feature on the FDA website. (FDA Philippines, Advisory No. 2020-1872, 2020)
• Importers must be accredited by the Bureau of Customs. Under CAO 01-2026, which amends CAO 07-2022 on the accreditation of importers, the customs accreditation is valid for three years from the date of the Certificate of Accreditation, the charge for a new application or renewal is PHP 5,000, and the order takes effect 15 days after publication. It was signed by the Commissioner on 31 March 2026 and approved by the Secretary of Finance on 9 April 2026. (Bureau of Customs, Customs Administrative Order No. 01-2026, April 2026)
• Importing any fish and aquatic products requires a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) under DA Administrative Order No. 9, Series of 2010. On BFAR’s application form the SPSIC is valid only for thirty (30) days from the date of issue and is surrendered to the fisheries quarantine officer after inspection; on arrival the importer presents the international health certificate, the original SPSIC and the airway bill or bill of lading, and the quarantine officer may take samples of fresh, chilled or frozen fishery products for microbiological testing. (Philippine National Trade Repository, BFAR SPS Import Clearance; BFAR, SPSIC application form FN-FCS-021, May 2022; checked October 2026)
• Importing plants and plant products, which includes rice, requires an SPS Clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), together with a Plant Quarantine Clearance and a Phytosanitary Certificate, under DA Department Circular No. 4, Series of 2016 (Guideline on the Importation of Plants, Planting Materials and Plant Products for Commercial Purposes). (Philippine National Trade Repository, BPI SPS Clearance, checked October 2026)
• Executive Order 105 (7 November 2025) keeps the 15 percent MFN duty on rice set by EO 62 until 31 December 2025. From 1 January 2026 the duty rises by five percentage points for every five percent fall in international rice prices and falls by five points for every five percent rise, but it can never go below 15 percent or above 35 percent, in-quota or out-quota. The Tariff Commission lists the order as published on 9 November 2025 with effectivity on 24 November 2025; EO 62 took effect for rice on 7 July 2024. (Tariff Commission, Executive Orders (certified copy of EO 105 s. 2025), November 2025)
• Fresh or chilled beef needs an SPS Import Clearance from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), a Certificate of Accreditation as Meat Importer from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and an electronic Veterinary Quarantine Meat Inspection and Laboratory Certificate. The clearance is applied for online, the permit is good for two (2) months, and the shipment is inspected at the port of entry by BAI quarantine and then at the cold storage warehouse by an NMIS plant officer. In a July 2025 presentation BAI listed Japan among the countries granted System Accreditation for the whole country for foreign meat establishments. (Philippine National Trade Repository, meat of bovine animals (0201.10.00); BAI presentation to the WOAH regional workshop, July 2025; checked October 2026)
• Excise tax on alcohol is collected by the Bureau of Customs at import. In its 2026 rate table the Bureau lists sake (HS 2206.00.20) under fermented liquor at PHP 48.31 per liter, still and sparkling wine at PHP 70.92 per liter, and distilled spirits (which would include shochu and Japanese whisky) at PHP 74.16 per proof liter plus 22 percent of the net retail price, effective 15 January 2026. The rates come from RA 11467, which raises the specific tax by 6 percent every year. (Bureau of Customs, MISTG Memo No. 01-2026, Implementation of excise tax rates of alcohol, tobacco and vapor products; RA 11467, January 2026)

Notable Japanese food suppliers and distributors in the Philippines

The suppliers below were selected because Japanese restaurants in the Philippines can buy from them, and each company’s website was opened on the date shown. The list is shorter than the equivalent lists for the US or Canada: the Philippines has no branch of the large Japanese food importers, so restaurants rely on local importers, one wine and spirits house for sake, specialty grocers for fish and beef, and self-import for the rest. For a neutral list of outlets that use Japanese ingredients, JETRO’s Japanese Food Supporter Store programme is searchable by country.

Japanese ingredients in highest demand in the Philippines

The trade figures show what the Philippines buys from Japan. Exports of farm, forestry, fishery and food products to the Philippines reached JPY 35.8 billion in 2025, up 24.4 percent, making the Philippines Japan’s 11th largest market. Over half of that was forestry and tobacco: plywood (JPY 8.1 billion), tobacco (JPY 7.0 billion) and sawn timber (JPY 2.5 billion) were the three largest items. The food items that follow are mackerel (JPY 2.3 billion), sauces and mixed seasonings (JPY 1.8 billion), confectionery (JPY 1.3 billion), soups and broths (JPY 1.1 billion), sardines, beef and green tea (JPY 1.0 billion each). Processed food was JPY 8.7 billion (24.2 percent of the total) and fishery products JPY 4.9 billion (13.6 percent) (MAFF, 2025 export results by country). Beef has appeared in the top ten since 2022 (JPY 1.0 billion in 2025), which matches the A5 wagyu now sold at retail in Manila; sake does not appear in the top ten, which matches a market where one distributor carries most of the brands.

Hard-to-source items, and practical workarounds

Japanese supermarkets and specialty grocers

For small outlets, Japanese grocers and supermarkets double as a cash-and-carry for seasonings, frozen fish and emergency sake. The shops below were verified through their own sites or JETRO’s supporter store list (April 2025); apart from Nishikiken, Dough & Grocer and Koji, listed above, none advertises trade terms, and prices are retail. Cebu is covered by SM Hypermarket branches on the JETRO list and by McAsia’s Cebu warehouse; no Japanese grocer in Davao could be verified through an official page.

How to choose a Japanese food supplier in the Philippines

• Decide who holds the FDA licence. If a Philippine importer brings the product in, the License to Operate and the Certificate of Product Registration for each item sit with them; a restaurant that imports processed food itself becomes the importer and needs both, while fresh fish and raw meat go through the Department of Agriculture instead. (DOH/FDA, Administrative Order No. 2014-0029, September 2014)
• Ask every seafood supplier for its BFAR accreditation and the SPS Import Clearance of the lot. The clearance is valid for 30 days from issue and is surrendered after inspection, so a supplier that air-freights weekly must be applying continuously. (BFAR, SPSIC application form FN-FCS-021, May 2022)
• For Japanese beef, buy only from an NMIS-accredited meat importer with a BAI SPS Import Clearance; the permit is good for two months and the lot is inspected at the cold storage warehouse before release. (Philippine National Trade Repository, meat of bovine animals, checked October 2026)
• Check each sake on the FDA website before it goes on the menu, and price it with excise in mind: PHP 48.31 per liter for sake, PHP 70.92 for wine and PHP 74.16 per proof liter plus 22 percent of net retail price for shochu and whisky at the 2026 rates. (Bureau of Customs, MISTG Memo No. 01-2026, January 2026)
• Use the JETRO Supporter Store list to see which outlets in the Philippines are certified as using Japanese ingredients. The country had 285 on the September 2026 list, many of them chain restaurants and hypermarkets, so read it as a map of demand rather than a supplier list. (JETRO, Japanese Food and Ingredient Supporter Stores, September 2026)
• Outside Metro Manila, ask the importer which warehouse serves you. McAsia states a Cebu warehouse opened in 2017 for the Visayas and Mindanao; the other suppliers above deliver within Metro Manila. (McAsia Foodtrade Corporation, Our Story, October 2026)

The bigger picture

The Philippines is a large market for Japanese restaurants with a small supply chain behind it: 285 JETRO certified outlets, Japan’s food exports up 24.4 percent in 2025, and yet no Japanese importer with a Toyosu line, one house carrying most of the sake, and seafood exports dominated by mackerel for processors. The constraint for a new restaurant is rarely demand. It is getting the counter supplied week after week within the FDA, BFAR, NMIS and customs paperwork, and that depends on a chef who knows which supplier holds which licence, which bottles are already registered, and how to build a menu around frozen Japanese fish when the air shipment does not land.

Frequently asked questions