by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro
Known to fight pathogens that protect the body from diseases, virgin coconut oil (VCO) is made out of fresh coconut meat whose rancid odor assails the nose of those who pass by a coconut oil factory.
However, Antonino “Tony” Geniston, general manager of AG Pacific Neutriceutical Corporation in Butai, Padada, Davao del Sur, discovered the right technology to produce fine VCO without the obnoxious smell.
Long before Geniston’s discovery which made his product a hit abroad, he had heard over the radio about the health benefits of VCO from host Solita Monsod, a professor from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and popular media personality. Geniston, a 50-year old chemical engineer, took Monsod’s words to heart and conducted his own research on VCO. He found out that VCO has been in high demand in the United States.
In 2005, Geniston and his business partners embarked on the manufacture of VCO even as they sought a way to eliminate the natural odor of dried coconut meat. In time they stumbled upon the reason for the unwanted smell: the presnece of impurities and moisture in the oil. “Usually, when a product has a strong smell, it means that there was something wrong in the process,” said Geniston.
However, starting the business on a capital of P2 million, Geniston realized that it was not sufficient to produce odorless VCO. Unfazed, this chemical engineer managed to assemble a centrifuge that did away with the unpleasant odor.
He recalled how he went to scrap yards to look for parts for the machine which he personally assembled. Soon enough, his company was producing 500 kilos of VCO a day, a far cry from the original 30 kilos daily production of VCO when they started the business in 2005. Today, AG Pacific employs 50 people and produces VCO valued at P9 million annually.
Quality control of their products is assured by harvesting their own coconuts at the right maturity stage of the nuts, which he said is a “tough job” in itself.
The good quality of their VCO helps the company survive despite despite their limited number of buyers.
“Perseverance is the key,” he said of their success, adding that his company had almost gone bankcrupt during its “birthing” stage when it almost folded up.
“But we continued to strive because we believed we had a very healthy product that would benefit Filipinos before foreigners,” he said.
The company, mindful of the health benefits from VCO, wants to help this segment of the coconut industry because the price of VCO cannot arbitrarily be controlled unlike what uscrupulous traders do to copra.
Bouyed by the quality and popularity of their product, AG Pacific then, took up another challenge by venturing into the international market, mindful of the big demand of VCO in the US.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has stepped in to support micro-business enterprises by bringing them to regional and national trade exhibits.
Recognized as one of the outstanding OTOP MSME (one-town-one-product micro, small and medium enterprises) in the Davao region in 2008 and 2009, AG Pacific participated in the International Food Exhibition 2011 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. That helped propel AG Pacific and its product into the world market where its VCO product has been in high demand in the US, Australia, Taiwan, The Dominican Republic and Hong Kong.
