Coco Loco

Coco Loco

PH’s humble buko juice is now US’s best-selling health drink

Hollywood superstar Madonna with her favorite drink

MANILA, Philippines — Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Cox, Sienna Miller, and supermodel Gisele Bundchen are devoted fans of Vita Coco, one of the most popular coconut water brands exported from the Philippines to the United States. Celebrity-singer Rihanna and Yankees star Anthony ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez proudly endorse it. Madonna loves it so much she invested $10 million in it.

Fondly known as “coco water” in the US, the Philippines’ buko juice is hailed for its natural capacity to rehydrate and provide essential amounts of electrolytes. It contains high levels of lauric acid that protect the body against infections and boost the immune system. It has also been claimed to help reduce the risk of cardiac arrest, improve blood circulation, regulate digestion, and a quick-fix for hangovers.

Made of 100 percent pure coconut water, coconut drinks have become a healthier alternative to sports drinks and enhanced bottled waters.  An 11 oz serving of pure coconut water contains about 60 calories, no fat, a gram of protein and 15 grams of carbohydrates. It’s rich in the electrolyte potassium (lost in sweat), and packs twice as much as a banana.

Vita Coco is the brand that started the US’ craze for fresh coconut water. In the US Vita Coco is sold at over 20,000 retailers including Whole Foods Market, GNC, Kroger, Publix, Ralph’s, Stop & Shop/Giant, select Costco and Wal-Mart stores and many chain and independent groceries. It is also sold in major US airports and on university campuses, as well as online at Amazon.com.

The second largest and best coconut producer in the world, the Philippines exports high quality coco water for Vita Coco as well as Pepsi Co.’s O.N.E. Coconut Water, which was originally developed in Brazil. In the first semester of 2011, the year the buko juice rose from obscurity, coconut water export increased by an impressive 315 percent with figures going up from 1.8 million to 7.2 million, year-on-year.

In President Aquino’s recent visit to the US, Vita Coco’s brand owners expressed their intention to invest around $15 million in the Philippines in the Philippines in the next four years. This big scale coco water export and recent developments in the country’s coconut-growing regions like Cagayan de Oro, Quezon, and Camarines Sur would not have been possible without Tetra Pak’s aseptic technology.

“Coconut water spoils very quickly,” said Anders Wester, managing director of Tetra Pak Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines. “Here in the Philippines, the Tetra Pak innovation has been applied to produce natural coconut water packaged in aseptic Tetra Pak cartons with an extended shelf life of up to 12 months which makes it suitable for export.”

Apart from catering to the world’s biggest and most trusted food and beverage companies, especially in the dairy and coco segments. According to Tetra Pak processing director David Tan, aseptic technology is simply the continuous process where products are heated to a temperature suited for sterilization and delivered to an aseptic filling machine in a commercially sterile condition.

On the other hand, aseptic packaging is a packaging process by which microorganisms are prevented from entering into the package during and after packaging. “Our packaging has six protective layers outside that keep the product fresh and sterile. The benefits of this aseptic technology are it reduces thermal impact, retains the nutritional value of the product, longer shelf life, and no preservatives required,” Tan added.

However, in spite of the Philippine’s high-grade coconuts and Tetra Pak’s aseptic technology, Vita Coco together with other coco water brands is not available in the Philippines.

 “Vita Coco tastes slightly different from our fresh buko juice,” said Tetra Pak communications and environment manager Tess Raymundo. “The coconuts used for Vita Coco are the more mature ones. That’s why it’s a little sour. It’s an acquired Western taste.”

Nonetheless, the idea that Filipinos will be hooked on the coco water craze is moot. Sweet or not, cartooned coco water just won’t do it for this nation. In the Philippines, buko juice is best enjoyed straight from the fruit with a straw along the beach because it’s always more fun in the Philippines
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Stop illegal loggers and charcoal-makers

By: Neal H. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Pictures don’t lie. Pictures of the flood-devastated areas in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan show many cut logs scattered on the wasteland. The logs were washed down the mountain by the torrents of water. Most likely, they crashed into the houses, causing the houses to collapse and get carried away by the floodwaters.

That can only mean that illegal logging was going on in the forests because legal logging has been phased out.

And this is what is happening to our forests everywhere. First, the logging concessionaires come in, build roads through the forests and start cutting the trees. After they leave, the illegal loggers come in, cutting the immature trees left standing. They leave the logs where they were cut to dry, then come back later to saw them into lumber. That is to escape detection. Up there in the forests, they cannot be seen cutting up the logs. Such were the logs washed down by the raging torrents, the logs that destroyed the houses.

After the illegal loggers come the charcoal-makers who cut even the saplings and burn them into charcoal. Thus, no tree roots are left to hold the soil together. When it rains, the cascading water carries the soil down the mountainsides. With each rain, more and more soil is carried away until only bare rock is left. Thus, the water rushes down more violently.

Meanwhile, the mud carried down by the water is deposited at the bottom of the waterways which become shallower and made to hold less water. Thus, the rivers overflow their banks faster and flood the surrounding areas.

Unless illegal logging and charcoal-making are stopped completely, there will be more and worse floods and landslides. The trouble, where will the construction industry get its lumber? There is a big demand for lumber and the illegal loggers supply some of it.

First, the construction industry must learn to use less wood and more recyclable steel. Philippine construction is very wasteful of wood, a throwback to the time when we still had plenty of wood in the forests.

Form lumber, or the scaffolding used in the construction of residential homes, is wasted after use. They are simply cut into firewood after the house is finished. Some contractors are already using reusable steel scaffoldings but the smaller ones still waste a lot of wood. Coco lumber from coconut trees are filling in some of the demand.

But at the rate we are cutting down coconut trees, all those coconut plantations would soon be gone, just like our forests. So builders should learn to use less wood.

Second, we should be allowed to import wood for the finishing touches like flooring, walls, doors, cabinet paneling and furniture. But that means the forests of wood-exporting countries would be depleted and that would hasten global warming and climate change.

The furniture and woodcraft industries are already running out of wood. Very soon, our furniture-making industry would become extinct—just like the rattan furniture industry after our forests ran out of rattan—unless we import wood. But that would only be transferring the problem to another country, a problem, by the way, that would later on have repercussions on the whole world.

Worse, our sculpture and woodcraft are also running out of wood. Ask the woodcarvers of Paete, Laguna, and they will tell you that it is also becoming more difficult to procure pieces of wood for use in their craft.

And then where will you get the charcoal to feed the voracious appetite of all the ihaw-ihaw restaurants and sidewalk barbecue stands? The big demand for charcoal is the reason many people in the countryside have turned to charcoal-making.

But we already have the technology to make charcoal out of agricultural wastes. Palay husks, coconut coir, coco shells, hay, cogon and talahib, sawdust, sugarcane stalks, corncobs, twigs and leaves, even grass and weeds can all be compressed and turned into charcoal bricks. A former congressman is already making and selling these charcoal bricks. The trouble is he owns the patent for the technology and machine.

So why does not the Department of Science and Technology buy the patent from him and propagate the making of charcoal? That will give more income to the farmers and other people in the countryside. At the same time, it will continue to supply all the ihaw-ihaw and barbecue stands with charcoal. It is also an export product. Do you know that Singapore imports plenty of charcoal?

Our agriculture is very wasteful. Many agricultural byproducts like palay husks and coconut coir are just thrown away or burned when they can earn more income for the farmers. One prime example is the coconut water from millions of nuts made into copra. This coconut water is just thrown away when it can be turned into vinegar and even wine.

When President Aquino came home from the United States sometime ago, he raved about the fad for coconut water there. Coco water is supposed to be a health drink. A local company is already producing and selling coconut water in plastic packs. It costs more than the ordinary soft drinks but is better tasting and more healthful. P-Noy raved about the billions of dollars we can earn if we export young coconuts or buko juice to the United States.

The trouble is when you pick the young buko for export, there would be no mature coconuts left to be made into copra. But the coconut water in the buko is the same as the water in the mature coconuts which we just throw away when making copra. Why not sell this coco water instead and make the coco farmers earn more?

Why not build a Philippine brand of coconut water

By: Willy E. Arcilla
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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We welcome the recent announcement of the President that two leading US beverage companies will be investing in the coconut water industry for marketing and distribution in the United States.

However, perhaps we should ask if there is a long-term strategic arrangement that could be more advantageous to our country and our people than simply being a grower and supplier for foreign brands, especially if those brands also source from other coconut-producing countries in Latin America, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

Why not build our own brand of coconut water? We know by now that people don’t buy products; they buy brands, so ultimately the real value of a business lies in its brand name or trademark and less so in the raw materials or ingredients which tend to be commoditized, or in the building and equipment which can be eventually outsourced (think Nike which owns no shoe factory). This is especially true in the case of consumer goods like beverages. A good example we can learn from is the state of our sugar industry, which has been supplying for decades to the world’s most valuable beverage brands, yet today our farmers continue to languish at the mercy of world commodity prices.

No PH global brand

It is lamentable that in today’s global marketplace, the Philippines still cannot boast of any major branded export product or truly global brand name that is marketed to the world’s 7 billion people—not just to our own 10 million OFWs. Cynics may say but we do have an export—OFWs—but people are a nation’s strongest asset and a country’s greatest wealth who must be protected, not exploited.

Hopefully, our own brand of coconut water can revitalize our coconut industry on which depend 25 million Filipinos, and pave the way for marketing other products of nature, eventually minimizing the diaspora of talented OFWs who suffer incalculable social costs of separation from family and relatives.

Country as origin

Provenance is a key differentiator and major competitive edge for many products and services. Perhaps we can learn from those countries who were clever enough to invest in building and marketing their own brands of food and beverages, even fashion, in the process, creating a strong favorable image of their culture and countries as the original source of premium high quality products, transforming traditionally low-value agriculture into multibillion dollar businesses—Alaskan salmon and Boston lobster, Swiss chocolate and cheese, French brandy and wine, Russian vodka and Scotch whisky, Irish stout and London gin, German beer and Italian olives, Portuguese sardines and Spanish chorizos, Canadian maple syrup, Mexican tequila and Jamaican rhum, Kenyan coffee and Hawaiian macadamia, Brazilian acai berry and Cuban cigar, Australian dairy products and New Zealand kiwi, Chinese tea and Japanese sake, Korean kimchi and ginseng, Kashmir wool and Indian curry, Indonesian spices and Malaysian palm, Thai rice and Vietnamese pho, California oranges and Washington apples, ad infinitum.

An archipelagic advantage

More important than the fact that the Philippines is the world’s largest producer of coconuts, experts have concluded that the Philippine coconut variety arguably tastes the most delicious in the world. Scientists at the Philippine Coconut Authority explain this is due to our country’s unique geography as an archipelago. An archipelago allows for the best growing conditions due to the natural wind patterns and sea currents that cross ventilate our 7,107 islands which then combine with an ideal tropical climate and suitable sandy soil to produce the world’s best-tasting fresh coconuts. Apparently, the best fertilizer for coconuts is salt, which abounds in our oceans. What has been perceived as a handicap and blamed for our disunity as a nation—our archipelago—is in fact a God-given gift. This unique selling point and proprietary advantage that yields a superior coconut represents a compelling argument for creating our own brand of coconut water and other coconut by-products, which can then be exploited in our communications. Since foreign brands diversify their sourcing of raw materials, it is unlikely that they would promote the Philippines as the source of superior coconuts because that would undermine their alternative sources. This has been manifested in past attempts by some foreigners to grow our local coconut varieties on their own soil, but still failing to achieve the same deliciously sweetish “buko juice.”

Local before global

Coconut water is the world’s best sports drink loaded with electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium while cleansing the kidney, but adequate product supply remains a serious constraint. So should we not prioritize local consumers before exporting overseas, at least until after newly planted trees start to bear fruit in five years? Prioritizing the local market maximizes our intimate knowledge of local market conditions and minimizes the cost of transportation, helping us generate revenue and profits to fuel future global expansion. After all, the Philippines is the world’s 12th largest country with 100 million consumers living in a tropical climate and consuming non-alcoholic beverages that reach an estimated retail value of P300 billion. It is no surprise that the largest food and beverage multinationals rank their subsidiaries in the Philippines among their top ten markets. Not only is the fresh young coconut (up to five months) a source ofhealthy drink, but its white meat is also a rich source of nutrition for our growing population. Instead of buying a manmade beverage containing artificial preservatives that sell for P30 per 500 ml, the lowly “buko juice”—at P20 per coconut containing more than 500 ml is quite a bargain.  Not only do profits remain onshore, but they can be reinvested into the local economy instead of repatriated abroad.  It can even provide livelihood for the urban poor who can be deputized as buko juice vendors, as some NGOs like the Balik Probinsiya movement are trying to organize.

Natural drink, national drink

One can even argue we need not compete only against sports drinks because it can serve the purpose of a multi-purpose beverage—for daily refreshment and regular hydration, dining accompaniment and indulgent relaxation, and even served proudly at state banquets, instead of European wine.  Beyond coconut water, it is “buko juice”; beyond just a sports drink, it must be our “National Drink.” While man invented soda and artificial packaging, God created only one natural drink in natural packaging (whose husk can be used as feedstock for biofuel, a renewable energy)—a 100-perfect natural drink that is as delicious and refreshing as it is healthy and nutritious—of which we have the biggest supply and the best variety.

Organizing the industry

What the government must do, through the Philippine Coconut Authority, is to organize farmers throughout the archipelago to begin massive and intensive planting and to ensure best growing practices among farmers to guarantee the highest quality and quantity with consistency and efficiency. In the process, let us please not repeat the mistakes of our mis-administration of coconut and sugar. Simultaneously, DOST can work on a technology which can harvest and package coconut water that can extend shelf life without the heating that destroys nutrients and affects taste, or adding preservatives.

The government can also provide fiscal incentives for the country’s “agri-preneurs” to reinvest in the coconut industry and encourage multibillion-peso local drink companies to build a globally competitive brand of “buko juice.” One potentially credible spokesperson who enjoys worldwide fame as an athlete is  Representative Pacquiao—imagine an advertising campaign showing the world’s best “pound-for-pound boxer” drinking and endorsing the world’s best “pound-for-pound beverage.” This will directly help his constituency since coconut is a chief source of livelihood for Sarangani and General Santos City.

Exports and tourism

Launching and building our own brand of coconut water can pave the way for promoting “Brand Philippines” as a source of higher-value products from mother nature such as the world’s most delicious mangoes, biggest bananas and sweetest pineapples, organic crops, fresh seafood and marine products, including even the rare golden South Sea pearl grown only in pristine Palawan. All these will not only help develop our agricultural sector and enrich farmers and fishermen, but drive our tourism efforts. Branded exports of our agricultural products and a tourism campaign promoting our natural beauty can mutually reinforce each other to build a distinctive image for “Brand Philippines” as a country with God-made wonders and manmade warmth. Our “welcome drink” for foreigners? Buko juice, naturally.

(The writer is founder and president of Brand Mentors Inc., a marketing and advertising consultancy firm whose mission is to help Filipino companies grow, and help local brands win in a competitive global economy. He has 30 years of experience working throughout the Asia-Pacific region with multinationals and local conglomerates. He is the author of “Marketing and Advertising with a Conscience.” E-mail him at willyarcilla@yahoo.com.)