Adventist Food Factories Are a Mission Field, Regional Church President Says

On the opening day of worldwide conference, church leaders call to refocus on mission.

February 18 2026 | Punta Cana, Dominican Republic | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A select group of 88 Seventh-day Adventist health food executives, some of their spouses, and regional church leaders met February 9-13 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for the 2026 Conference of the Adventist Health Food Association (AHFA). The event, held under the theme “Mission: Innovation to Share,” including experts in food production, sales, and marketing from more than a dozen countries, sought to reaffirm the health food factory mission, discuss experiences, trends, and challenges, and assess better ways to collaborate on a more unified front across continents.

The 2026 conference was hosted by the Inter-American Health Food Company (IAHFC), which coordinates the health food factories across the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory. Its manager, José Flores Laguna, celebrated the new additions to the association, including the presence of Hany Yacoub, general manager of Adventist Health and Education Foundation, based in Egypt. He also welcomed representatives from Brazil’s Superbom, who have returned after a hiatus.

Flores also emphasized the presence of regional church leaders, including IAD president Abner De los Santos, former IAD treasurer Filiberto Verduzco, and the three main administrators of the Dominican Union. “We are honored that they found time to be here and show their support,” he said.

A Mission for Everyone

De los Santos offered opening remarks, emphasizing that the performance of the health food factories owned by the Adventist Church are not detached from the church’s mission. “In the Seventh-day Adventist Church there’s mission for everyone. It is what gives meaning to every church, institution, and church regional office,” he said. “Thus, without mission, the Adventist food companies have no reason to exist. . . . And everyone is called to serve the broader mission of restoring humanity to God’s image.”

At the same time, De los Santos reminded conference attendees that God’s mission for His people is wholistic. “Health is not separated from faith, and prosperity is not apart from purpose,” he explained. “God wants [Adventist] food companies around the world to prosper for His glory and honor.”

A Unique, Sacred Space

According to De los Santos, Adventist leaders who serve in the food business are in “a unique, sacred space.” He added, “Your job takes place at the intersection of faith and life, combining beliefs with practice, message with methods. Your factories, offices, warehouses, and labs are not outside our mission field. They are a mission field.”

At the same time, De los Santos said, “[Adventist] food companies have the privilege of articulating our message in a special, unique way. Health is not a byproduct of the gospel but one of its purest expressions. And God wants this health message that food companies are supposed to carry to be the right hand of the gospel.”

In that sense, mission does not take place only from the pulpit or evangelistic initiatives, De los Santos emphasized. “Mission takes place through ethical leadership and decisions grounded on compassion. It takes place in excellence, service, and responsibility in our daily endeavors. The way a company carries out its activities impacts not only the company but the community. And when our daily work reflects Christ’s character, mission is already in motion.”

The World Is Watching

De los Santos also emphasized that today “the world is watching to see how we lead, how we treat people, and how we balance success with responsibility. In times of crisis and food crises and uncertainty, our Adventist identity call us to be more than just smart leaders—it calls us to be faithful witnesses.”

Against that challenging background, living mission means not isolating faith from our environment, De los Santos said. And then he asked, “Do we uplift our values in every meeting, in our policies and product development? in our internal and external partnerships? Do we ask ourselves not only ‘Is this product going to work?’ but also ‘Does it contribute to making the world healthier? Is this product honoring God? Are we serving humanity through our products?’ ”

De los Santos concluded by reminding participants that “God has placed each one of us to be a light. And your workplace is your lighthouse. When we live our faith with integrity, compassion, and excellence, Christ’s light shines through us even when we don’t say a word. We fulfill our mission as we go.”

Mission Is God-Centered

In a devotional message after De los Santos’ remarks, Teófilo Silvestre, president of the Dominican Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, reminded conference attendees that “God has a mission, and that mission is the source of a church and a food factory. Because mission is God-centered, success is guaranteed. We are here today because God has a mission.”

Silvestre reflected, based on the biblical story of Ruth, on how moments of internal and external crisis come to every leader. “There are crises that we do not look for but are just thrown upon us,” he said. “Elimelech and Naomi’s family came from Bethlehem—which means ‘the house of bread.’ But in the house of bread, there was lack of bread. And that lack of bread drove their immigration.”

Drawing an analogy with our mission, Silvestre said that it would be unfortunate if in our house of bread we lacked bread—if we as leaders lacked clarity on what our mission is. “It would be a tragedy if we focused on things that are not important even if they were good,” he said.

Going Back to Our Core Mission

Fortunately, the Bible tells us how eventually, when Naomi and Ruth returned, there was abundance of bread again. “If we have somehow strayed from our mission, not everything is lost,” Silvestre said following once more the analogy. “And I believe this type of meeting is useful exactly for that—so that we refocus on mission and we may have abundance of bread again.”

Finally, Silvestre mentioned the example of Jesus when He fed the 5,000, noting that Jesus was “moved with compassion” for the people (Matt. 14:14). “Jesus’ compassion was not calculated, theoretical, or abstract—He felt it in the depths of His soul,” he said. “And if we want to accomplish God’s mission as a health food factory, we must also be moved with compassion from the deepest parts of our souls. We must focus on people, not on financial gain, because that’s our raison d’être. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to save people, and this should also be our goal too—make people befriend God again and be saved.”