As the world celebrated Chocolate Day last July 7, the industry itself, like other consumer products was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, because of restrictions on the supply chain after most of the countries resorted to lockdowns. In the Philippines, local producers were forced to stop or limit processing of cacao products after the declaration […]
San Isidro, Davao del Norte – Seated beneath a tall coconut tree and hiding himself from the scorching heat of the sun, Narciso Lara has been chopping coconut husks which he will use to surround other coconut trees in a practice called mulching to keep the soil healthy. “Ginagawa namin ito para lumamig ang puno,” […]
The Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), in partnership with Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board Region XI, organized a green productivity training last September 20 in Davao City to ensure environmental preservation while maintaining profitability of social enterprises. The training emphasized to 11 social enterprises from Mindanao the threats of climate change and how to […]
Home to world-class dark chocolates and supplier of at least 81 percent of the country’s total cacao production, Davao is now the official Cacao and Chocolate Capital of the Philippines. According to the Davao’s Regional Development Council resolution passed on June 9, 2017, cacao production in the region has been increasing since 2010 with an […]
“Five years from now, I’ll be making Bohol literally the island of Chocolates,” says chocolatier Dalareich Polot, manager of Dalareich Food Products and founder of Ginto Fine Chocolates. A bean to bar chocolate handmade from cacao beans, Dalareich Food Products sourced its tablea, the local name for roasted, ground and molded nibs of fermented cacao […]
Local agricultural players pledged to make the municipality of San Isidro become the “cacao capital of Davao del Norte” in a stakeholders forum organized by the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) last June 19. Representatives from the local government, business sector, community leaders, farmers and PEF trustees as well as its program committee members met […]
The Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) approved PHP 54.7 million for 22 projects in Mindanao for 2018, a 353% increase from the previous year according to its recently released annual report. Of these, 20 projects will support cacao, coconut, and coffee production and marketing, as well as basic social services in Mindanao. The biggest project […]
Eduardo Gonzaga, chair of LAMPCO Management Consultative Council in Sawata, said the new ideas and practices learned in training will be adopted in his 2.6-hectare coconut and cacao farm. “Dapat pagdating mo sa farm galing sa training, nasa isip mo na dapat magamit mo ‘yung natutunan mo kasi kahit ilang beses ka pa sumama sa […]
As a liaison officer in San Isidro municipal hall, Loreto Davis, 57, hopes to retire early so he can focus on managing his 1.7-hectare farm with 200 trees of coconut and 500 hills of cacao. With the falling prices of copra, Davis, a member of Small Coconut Farmers Organization (SCFO) in San Isidro has been […]