DAVAO CITY -- A coconut industry player in Davao Region is embarking on new innovation to increase production and value-adding as coco by-products are in demand in the international market.
Benjamin R. Lao, president and chief executive officer of the Lao Integrated Farms, Inc., said there was huge demand in the international market for products derived from coconut such as coco sugar, syrup, virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coco water, juice, and coco coir.
Lao said his company, for instance, ships 50 percent of the production of coco syrup, sugar and teriyake sauce to the United States while the other international markets were Australia, France, Canada and Japan. He said they could produce 2,500 liters of coco syrup and 1,000 kilos of coco sugar daily.
The production farms of the company are located in Bansalan, Magsaysay, Padada, Sulop and Malalag, consisting of 85 hectares fully planted with coconut.
Starting only with five hectares and five workers, the company expanded through acquisition or lease agreement of land. It already has 110 employees.
The tuba harvesters that he tapped years back were only five, but now it had increased to 300.
"We are expanding this year in South Cotabato with 24 hectares in Tampakan town as we will be finalizing agreement with our buyers in Canada," he said.
As the demand continues to increase, Lao said the company needs to open new production area if only to meet the requirements. But Lao said the company was tasked to improve operation.
He is proud that his firm is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified by TUVSUD of Germany.
"Our organic farming is also certified by ECOCERT of France and by NICERT (Negros Island Certification Services, Inc.) Philippines and the OCCP or the Organic Crop Center of the Philippines," Lao said.
For the capitalization, Lao said he availed of the Start Up program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and also got support from the Peace and Equity Foundation when he started his business.
To date, he said he conducted briefing-lecture for free to interested coconut farmers who wanted to improve their production as part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
Meanwhile Edwin Ceniza, member of the board of Cocolife Cooperative in Pantukan, Compostela Valley Province, said his group was organized in 2006 with only 24 members. Membership has increased including small farm coconut owner who decided to beef up their production through value adding.
The cooperative is also a beneficiary of the Start Up program of the DOST, the Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Coconut Authority and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The Philippine Center for Post Harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMec) has extended the cooperative a grant of P5 million for the acquisition of additional equipment.
The cooperative produces virgin coconut oil and coco vinegar while the coco juice is under study for finalization to commercial production, Ceniza said.
He said the cooperative's products are available in supermarkets locally "but we have resellers in the Middle East through our OFWs."
"Once we improve our capacity with an additional three more equipment, our current production of 3,000 liters per month of VCO will increase to 6,000 liters monthly," Ceniza said.
The coop is also working on expanding to international market with the help of concerned government agencies.
Both the Lao Integrated Farms, Inc. and the Cocolife Cooperative of Pantukan will be sharing their Best Practices during the 2nd International Coconut Conference and Expo Cocolink 2017 that will be held on November 7 to 9, 2017 at SMX Convention Center in Davao City.
Cocolink 2017 is a platform for convergence where stakeholders of the coconut industry discuss new technologies, best practices, research findings, market demands and opportunities for farmers suppliers, processors and entrepreneurs. (Digna D. Banzon/PNA)
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