Century Pacific Food, Inc., through its coconut manufacturing arm Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures, Inc. (CPAVI), has signed a partnership with Friends of Hope to donate quality seedlings to smallholder coconut farmers — enabling the planting of productive coconut trees and the replacement of non-fruit-bearing senile ones in South Central Mindanao.
In addition to expanding long-term coconut supply in the region, planting the coconut trees will sequester about 416,680 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years. As a result, CNPF’s coconut subsidiary aims to be “carbon-neutral” by 2028.
Under the partnership, CPAVI will provide coconut farmers 100,000 coconut seedlings a year for the next five years, with Friends of Hope overseeing their distribution to farmer families and ensuring that the seedlings are given the proper care. Friends of Hope is a non-profit organization with expertise in coconut-based farming systems, as well as growing coconuts and other intercrops. Since its establishment in 2012, it has reached almost 10,000 farmers, providing them access to better seedlings, facilitating end-to-end trainings on coconut and intercrop production, and helping reduce costs by linking farmers directly to markets.
The joint initiative between CPAVI and Friends of Hope will expand long-term coconut supply in South Central Mindanao and help provide additional income to some 16,000 families in the area. As its need for the coconut raw material rises, CPAVI also plans to onboard partner farmers as suppliers, giving them market access for their products.
Noel Tempongko, Vice President and General Manager of CPAVI, said, “This initiative is a unique opportunity to help our community, our planet, and our business all in one go. Coconut farmers in Mindanao get the benefit of improved quality and productivity of their farming, as well as market access to their products due to our growing company requirements. We are also able to offset our carbon emissions as a result of this project and, at the same time, ensure a more sustainable supply source of coconuts for our company. We look forward to continue showcasing the quality of Philippine coconut products, proudly made in Mindanao, to the rest of the world, whilst helping our environment and community of coconut farmers in the process.”
Christopher Po, CNPF’s Executive Chairman, added, “I am personally very excited about this project which allows us to augment the livelihoods of our farmers, enhance the supply of quality coconuts, and achieve a milestone of carbon neutrality for our coconut business. At the same time, the initiative supports our ambition to manufacture healthier products, and our vision of growth whilst doing business in a more sustainable and responsible way.”
Through the wholly owned subsidiary CPAVI, CNPF entered the coconut business initially as an integrated manufacturer of high-value coconut products for exports, in line with its pivot towards manufacturing healthier products. Its entry into the category began with an ongoing long-term contract with a leading global coconut brand. Recently, the Company also signed a long-term contract exporting coconut products to the Linaco Group, a leading regional coconut producer headquartered in Malaysia.