When you purchase this Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, you are also supporting farmers and families in the coconut industry in the Philippines. The de-husking of fresh coconuts (above).
The coconut industry in the Philippines is at a low ebb but Preda dried Mangos uses the once discarded and useless shells for producing steam for the drying process and bring a big benefit to farmers. That’s one more reason to buy Preda dried mango. There is little demand in the world market or the local market for that matter .Small farmers suffer the most .Most are tenant farmers anyway and live at subsistence level. The sale of their coconut shells is a big bonus to them. Price of copra (the white “meat” of the coconut from which oil is extracted is at an all time low.
The Philippines coconut authority has misjudged the world market for coconut products especially oil and has not improved its export sales. The coconut industry is the highest net foreign exchange earner of agricultural exports in the Philippines, accounting for about 1.5% of GNP. It employs, directly or indirectly, some 20 million people (about one-third of the population) and earns more than US$510m annually. Yet most these 20 million live in poverty and squalor.
There are various qualities of refinement of the coconut oil. The world market has different prices for the different qualities. But US campaign against Coconut oil has blocked development and sales. The EU is also imposing restrictions and barriers against it. They want to protect there own vegetable oils such as rape seed and sunflower oil. The coconut industry is highly controlled by the Philippine government and multinational corporations all to their own advantage. There is a price controlling cartel it appears and so small farmers cannot get a good fair price for the raw Copra. They have no ability to refine it themselves as this is capital intensive and requires expensive equipment. The small and medium refining oil processing plants control the farm gate price for refining the copra .In fact most coconut oil now is bought by the big corporations through local agents at very low prices.
Besides the small farmers are not many , most are tenant farmers and do not own the land and have to give a share of their product or sales to the land owner ,this keeps them poor and struggling .The price of copra is down. Preda has tried to market coconut shell products made by craft makers but the demand is small.
Using the coconut shell to make charcoal “bricks”, has been tried and failed because the burning temperature is low in comparison to traditional wood charcoal used for cooking. Using coconut for charcoal is recommended to save the trees and increase the farmers’ income. However it adds to CO2.
Preda as an exporter of processed dried mango in partnership with a Cebu based processor, Profood, uses Hundreds of tons of coconut shell to produce steam for the drying of fruits. This is a big benefit to the farmers as the shell is usually considered worthless and is discarded but in Cebu and surrounding production areas it is not of higher value.
The coconut industry has many PROBLEMS. However, the industry’s ability to meet demand and expand may be jeopardised by:
• the declining share of coconut oil in the world’s oils and fats market;
• a proposed levy on vegetable oil imports to the European Community and a campaign against coconut oil in the US;
• more stringent aflatoxin regulations imposed in the international copra market;
• erosion of the European desiccated coconut market;
• lack of a market development and expansion program; and
• low incomes for coconut farmers.
Fair Trade marketing organizations in Europe have tried and failed to sell the oil years ago to medium companies in the cosmetics and soap industry, then to the food industry and to the bio-industry but no one was interested. Who will buy it now at a price that is fair? In fact it is a commodity that has fallen on hard times and has many substitutes. So there are few if any ready buyers especially at this time of recession and rock bottom commodity prices and no demand. It’s not a happy prospect but that the reality.
