Coco sugar, other organic products, tops national trade fair sales
Posted on October 1st, 2009
The 2009 National Livelihood Trade Fair was recently held at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City under the auspices of the Philippine Chamber of Handicrafts, Inc. and the Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc.
During the said trade fair, coco sugar and other organic products from Lanao del Norte sold like the proverbial hotcake. The organic products from Lanao del Norte, aside from coco sugar, included honeymansi with pineapple, honeymansi concentrate plain, pineapple marmalade, bangus in corn oil packed in glass container, coco honey and coconut vinegar which are all manufactured without any preservatives.
The coco sugar was a big hit in spite of its high price compared to the regular sugar. Coco sugar is in the form of fructose which is superior healthwise compared to the sucrose in the ordinary sugar from sugarcane.
The high price of the coco sugar, according to former Gov. Imelda Quibranza Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte, was due to the fact that it requires much more effort and hard work to produce. The sap of the unopened flowers (toddy) is extracted from the coconut tree which is cooked to make coco sugar.
Coco sugar is now also being exported to countries in Europe as well as Korea and Japan, truly this product is not only in demand here but in other countries as well. Aside from Lanao del Norte, coco sugar is also being produced in Misamis Oriental.
Meanwhile, Congressman Abdullah “Bobby†Dimaporo of 2nd district, Lanao del Norte, has been supporting the agricultural production, both in the farm crops and in livestock. He has been responsible for putting up the biggest dairy cow operation in the Philippines. Lately, he imported more than 2,000 Savanna goats from Australia for commercial production by farmers in his province.
Lanao del Norte tops the list of growing economies with a gross domestic product growth of 5.3 percent in 2008. It’s the highest among the regions during the period.
