MANY Americans may not be aware that their favorite pancakes and waffles in restaurants are topped with a healthy syrup made from tuba, or fresh coconut sap, extracted from coconut trees grown in the Philippines.
And that the latest products in the US to adapt to the Philippine coco syrup product, a healthy alternative to cane sugar, are the chocolate bars.
The syrup topping is organically processed in a small plant located in the middle of a once-barren five-hectare farm nine kilometers from downtown Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
In 2009, Donnabelle coco syrup was the first coconut sweetener in the world to be exported to the US, with ten drums containing 2000 liters of the honey-like product as the first shipment, according to its owner Benjamin Lao.
Aside from the US, the coco syrup is exported to Australia.
The popularity of the coco syrup is phenomenal in the US, Lao told the Philippine Information Agency, citing increasing demand for it. Shipment now averages 56 drums every 60 days.
Lao earns an average gross of P2.5 million every shipment. Less the overhead cost, the profit from coco syrup contributes much to the earning of his small-scale business firm, the Lao Integrated Farms, Inc. which presently owns P10 million worth of assets.
Apart from pancakes, waffles and chocolates, the Donnabelle coco syrup is used as sweetener for other food products in restaurants and for industrial and pharmaceutical purposes, both locally and internationally.
Aside from the coco syrup, the Lao Integrated Farms also manufactures the Donnabelle coco sugar which is patronized locally by the Dragon Recipe Choice and Prangels Snack Inn, both in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
The Donnabelle brand is taken from rhe names of Lao’s daughters Donna Rosalyn, a nursing graduate and Belle Janine, a BS Psychology student.
Both coco sugar and syrup products are consigned to the stores of the New City Commercial Corporation (NCCC) and Bios Dynamis Foundation in Davao City; and ro the major malls in Bohol and Samar in the Visayas.
Two hospitals in Cebu, the Mt. Blessings and Bio Integrated Health, are supporting and patronizing the products.
These are also displayed in airports.
Lao currently maintains an office in Manila to facilitate marketing, promotion and to handle local orders and abroad.
Health benefits
Organically-processed and with low glycemic index of 35, Lao claims that coco syrup and sugar are safe for persons with diabetes, hypertension and goes well for health conscious individuals. The index is a measure of the effect of carbohydrates in the person’s sugar level and the tolerable level is below 100.
Lao personally attests to the efficacy of the coco sugar, saying that constant use has lowered hypertension incidence. His neighbors and other regular users of the coco sugar in the other barangays of Bansalan attest to this.
“My blood pressure has become stable, and I’m not taking medicines anymore,” he said.
Lao also disclosed that the Southern Philippines Adventist College in Matanao, Davao del Sur is conducting a study on the therapeutic benefits of coco sugar and syrup among diabetics and hypertensive persons.
Value-adding and organic farming
Ten years ago, Lao started improving the five-hectare unproductive land in Barangay Eman, Bansalan, an inheritance from his parents.
Starting with goat-raising under coconut trees, the farm was then planted with fruit trees using organic inputs, including manure from goats and other farm animals.
Today, the farm is into inter-cropping of various fruit trees, such as rambutan, mangosteen and durian, aside from the coconut trees.
Production of coco sugar and syrup products began only three years ago on a capital of P2,800 and tedious capability-building and transfer training from Mt. Carmel Rural Life Center in Bansalan, North Cotabato.
Inspired by the value-adding concept in the production of coconut sap-based products like coconut sugar and coconut syrup, Lao also began producing cacao with coconut sugar, ginger brew (salabat), and sweet and spicy seasoning.
The Lao Integrated Farms has produced other commercial products using coco sugar such as moringa tea, mangosteen tea, lemon grass tea, turmeric tea, ginger tea and tawa-tawa tea. The coconut syrup is used in the firm’s guyabano product.
The business has ventured into ice cream-making with chocolate and durian flavors, and the latest with malunggay, all with coco syrup sweetener.
In all these activities, Lao said the health benefit and sustainability of his products are several times enhanced by organic farming practice, proudly adding that he uses indigenous and biological inputs and control.
Apart from saving a lot in terms of inputs, Lao said attractiveness of his products is multiplied in the export market if the products are organically produced.
“This is why our products are accepted in the US,” he said, saying that the US Department of Agriculture has, in fact, certified his products as organically produced.
Beyond money matters, the farmer-entrepreneur emphasizes that organic farming greatly helps in protecting and preserving the environment, the sustainability of his production.
The farm’s processing plant technology is also considered environment-friendly, with the Verus-USA issuing the certification that the plant is carbon-neutral. “The trees surrounding the plant have also helped lessen the carbon emission,” he stated.
Further, the farm’s seasoning product made of coco sugar and syrup with vinegar is Halal-certified, Lao said.
Gawad-Saka Awards
For his steadfast practice and advocacy on organic farming, Lao eceived his second national Gawad Saka Award from President Benigno Aquino in Malacanang on December 13 this year.
This year’s annual Gawad Saka Award given by the Department of Agriculture to outstanding farmers in the country cited Lao the Outstanding Organic Farmer. He also received a Presidential trophy and citation along with a cash prize of P100,000.
Lao bagged his first national Gawad Saka award as the Outstanding Coconut Farmer that earned him a P120,000 cash prize. He invested it the construction of a mini-processing plant for the coco sugar and coco syrup products.
Job generation
The increasing demand for coco syrup in the US, and coco sugar in the local and international markets subsequently calls for additional manpower on the farm.
When he began producing the coconut sap-based products in the last quarter of 2008, Lao had only a handful of workers, with one cook and two coconut harvesters. [PIA 11/CARINA L. CAYON]
