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AMERICA STILL IN LOVE WITH PH’S COCONUT AS US TRADE MISSION TURNED UP $6M SALES INSTANTLY

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Philippines’ coconut products makers have affirmed Americans sustain love for tropically-grown coconut and its products, a trade exposition in Maryland late in September that instantly generated $6 million sales showed.  The United Coconut Associations of the Philippines (UCAP) has assured farmers and makers of virgin coconut oil and other processed coconut- not only in the country but among Asian and Pacific producers- that the US market continues to rave over coconut and its health benefits.   “America still loves our coconuts,” said UCAP President Dean A. Lao Jr. in a briefing held at the Cocohouse luncheon last Tuesday on the Coconut Roadshow in the US.  (Mr. Lao’s presentation can be viewed at the UCAP website at www.ucap.org.ph; for copies pls. contact the secretariat)   
   
The trade mission, held last September 6-22, supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine Embassy and attaches in the US, went to Maryland, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver to affirm scientifically-evident health benefits of coconut.  While there has been misinformation on coconut oil apparently arising from competitor products, UCAP said the sentiment of the US consumer market is to defend coconut products.  
 
Scientific studies have linked medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) content in coconut oil to less incidence of cardiovascular disease in studied populations.  MCFA has also been widely recognized now as the major ingredient in energy-boosting ketogenic diet.  The private-public sector trade group will carry out more programs to attest to authorities scientific proof of coconut oil’s nutritional benefits. 
The public-private trade group also met with Filipino scientists from Philippine American Academy of Science & Engineering that may explore scientific studies on coconut in the future.  UCAP also oriented the Coconut Coalition, a group of major distributors of coconut products in the US, on its position on false accusation of the American Heart Association against all saturated fats as being linked to cardiovascular diseases as top cause of death in the US.  “The Coalition wants us to be alert on our senses, and we are. We feel the sentiment that consumers go to the defense of coconut.  But it’s not something we should take for granted,” Lao said.
 

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