PHILIPPINES CASE STUDY: Earning Organic Status

With increasing demand for organically-grown products, our company, Franklin Baker, decided to pursue organic certifi cation for our coconut products from Ecocert International-a certifi cation body accredited by NOP (the National Organic Protection), the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration), and the ECC (European Economic Community).

We initially identifi ed and short-listed farms which we believed had the best chance of receiving organic certifi cation. Since we do not own the coconut plantations, we had to perform careful assessments based on organic certifi cation standards. We conducted in-depth interviews and surveys of coconut farmers to check whether their farming practices were in compliance with organic rules and standards.

Physical preparation

The determination of the total area of the organic farm and its estimated output or yield was important. In addition, excluded (nonorganic coconut trees) areas in the farm or adjacent properties were carefully identifi ed, and physically separated from the farms that grow organic coconut trees. The separation was done with buffering, physical hedges, waterways, and pathways. We provided Ecocert an accurate map that detailed the location of separation measurements, distances, adjoining land use, transport requirements, storage facilities and other signifi cant objects and areas that would affect the process of organic farming.

To ensure compliance with organic certifi cation standards, we have isolated organic desiccated coconut production starting from the use of pared meat. This will be done in addition to our current HACCP certifi ed manufacturing process of subjecting coconut meat to shredding, blanching, drying, screening, inspection and packing. We also sought approval from Ecocert on the information printed on the packaging. Lastly, we will allocate a dedicated area in our warehouse where the organic products will be stored.

To further support the farmers, we will continually provide them with information related to organic farming through seminars and training. This assistance will be on top of our regular monitoring of their farming practices to ensure compliance to organic food standards.

Application process

Once the farms were identifi ed, we submitted our production process and all other necessary documents to Ecocert International. Afterwards, they conducted an actual audit of the farms and manufacturing plants involved in the organic production process. Once we provided our commitment response to Ecocert and their acceptance thereof, we eventually received our organic certifi cation for desiccated coconuts, coconut fl our, and virgin coconut oil. Overall, the entire process took six months to complete (from January to June of this year). We spent four months for farm identifi cation and assessment. Meanwhile, the document preparation, actual audit, and review of the audit results just took two months.

Rationale

We got an organic certifi cation for three main reasons. Firstly, with the trend towards health consciousness and environmental protection, the organic market is growing exponentially. In fact, it is seen that demand for organically-certifi ed food products are expected to grow at a rate of 20 to 30 percent annually in the US and Europe.

Secondly, the organic food market can be profi table, as consumers are willing to pay premium prices. Thirdly, the Philippines is in a great position to supply the world market with organic coconut since it is the largest exporter of coconut products to the global market.

The local market for organic products is still relatively small. Based on a 2000 USDA GAIN report, the organic market in the Philippines is just worth $6.2 million. However, it is estimated that this market is expanding by approximately 10 to 20 percent annually. With a growing local market awareness and assistance from the Philippine agriculture department, we fi rmly believe that demand for organic food products can expand, and is sustainable over the long-term.