Who We Are
Virgin Coconut Oil Producers and Traders Association of the Philippines, Inc. (or VCO Philippines) is a membership-based and non-profit organization of companies in the virgin coconut oil industry in the Philippines. It started its roots when the government identified virgin coconut oil in mid 2003 as one of the export winner products, thereby gaining an impetus to further its development and promotion.
It started with 10 producers and traders. At present it has now 32 registered members.
VCO Philippines has succesfully achieved its goal of making the Philippines the leading global source of quality virgin coconut oil. It has been able to unite the different producers and traders, including related and support institutions, and in setting the quality standards for virgin coconut oil.
It initiated in May 2004 the formulation of the Philippine National Standards for Virgin Coconut Oil which led to its finalization and the issuance of PCA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2005.
VCO Philippines Programs are the following:
1. Membership and Organizational Development
2. Promotions and Marketing
3. Production and Technical Support
4. Resource Mobilization
We were all excited about the emergence of Virgin Coconut Oil. Actually, the virgin coconut oil existed long before, but it was only 2003 that the Philippines became aware of it. We have been producing coconut cooking oil for a long time which comes from copra but VCO is something different. It comes from fresh mature coconut and does not undergo refining, bleaching and deodorizing. VCO is a miracle oil that can be taken as a supplement and can be used on the skin as a moisturizer and to treat skin ailments. We had a vision that one day Virgin Coconut Oil will be recognized all over the world, as early as 2003, we began to organize ourselves into a corporation. The original incorporators of Virgin Coconut Producers and Traders Association of the Philippines, Inc. were Paulo Mamangun, Sammy Latay, Sonny Villariba, Tiu Sing, Jing Reyes, Tess Santos, Gerry Natividad, Gilbert Evaristo, Marco Reyes, and Rudy Siojo. Tess Santos was elected President of the new association but she declined and Jun Mamangun volunteered to be President. Tess Santos accepted the Vice Presidency.
CITEM, through Girlie Sarmiento, took interest in the new product produced locally. New producers and traders were added to the list of members. She helped us promote VCO through Trade shows and BFAD approval.
In 2004, we invited Dr. Bruce Fife, the author of “The Healing Miracle of the Virgin Coconut Oil”. Unfortunately, he was unable to come on time for IFEX. Instead, we asked him questions thru a phone call. The audience was satisfied with hearing his answers.
In 2005, PCA published the Philippine National Standards for VCO. With the help of agencies such as Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards and Dr. Conrado Dayrit, Dr. Toby Dayrit, and the Technical Committee of VCOP headed by Marco Reyes.
In 2005, was marked by significant events. We held our second election. Tess Santos was elected as President. Patrick Belisario remained as Executive Secretary. We organized a seminar with Dr. Bruce Fife, Dr. Conrado Dayrit, Dr. Vermen Verallo-Rowell and other doctors who believed in the virgin coconut oil. It was a big success with some 400 attendees. It was held during Coconut Week at Megatrade, SM. We published a resource book entitled "Oil You Want To Know About VCO" with Tess Santos as project manager and Sonny Villariba as project director. The members contributed articles and several companies involved in VCO advertised. The book also included PNS, application for PCA registration, application for BFAD License to Operate, list of recognized laboratories. It is truly a resource book. It is still relevant and is available at the present.
Prosource Intl Inc. packaged VCO in 250 ml bottle and pioneered sale in Mercury drugstores. It's the first VCO to receive the Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) from BFAD. Now several brands of members are in the stores like Mercury drugstores, Watsons, small drugstores and groceries, and supermarkets.
The popularity of VCO started in North America. Soon the Philippines started accepting the local product. Sale of VCO in bulk for export boomed from 2009 to 2016, then a decline in 2017. We attributed that to the AHA Advisory against saturated fats. Fortunately, the effects were short lived. Growth of exports of VCO continue not only in USA but also now in many countries.
Plants producing VCO mushroomed. They were either producing dry expeller method, centrifuge from wet, or traditional fermentation. Membership grew in number. We lost some of the old ones but were replaced by new members.
VCOP met challenges along the way such as loss of relevance as an association, lack of funds, and loss of office (CITEM had to remodel). We had to give up the Executive Director and one employee. Instead, we used the office of Prosource at Platinum as a venue for communication.
To revitalize the association, we hired Agnes Cristobal to act as Executive Director. We had a board election after 10 years. The Board then elected Nonie Magcase as President and Tess Santos as Chairwoman. VCOP became active again.
We had another election in 2018. At present Marco Reyes sits as President.