Philippines continues campaign vs bad coco oil rap

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines continues to counter the recent backlash on the coconut oil industry, deeming it unhealthy and unfit for the heart, as it launches a campaign that will clean up the sector’s name in major markets.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said the government and the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP) have agreed  to do a counter campaign through a series of roadshows in the US.

“One of the ways we will go about it is to do a roadshow in the US together with players in the industry to talk about the benefits of coconut oil,” PCA administrator Romulo dela Rosa said.

This is still in response to the controversial report of the American Heart Association (AHA) which placed anew the coconut oil industry in a bad light.

“We will also do both scientific and political moves and we have asked the scientific community to come up with their own statements backed by their own studies,” Dela Rosa said.

He added the intergovernmental organization Asia Pacific Coconut Community, which includes the Philippines, has reached out to several global institutions including the World Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to seek help in addressing the issue.

The PCA will begin the series of roadshows in the US next month.

The PCA chief maintained the AHA report is just a rehash of old adversarial claims drawn without firm scientific basis that consumption of coconut oil is not good for the heart.

According to local studies, coconut oil does not cause heart disease.

“Coconut products especially coconut oil have enjoyed a resurgence in demand and popularity boosted by the needs of the natural food industry and retail markets around the globe,” Dela Rosa said.

Furthermore, Dela Rosa said the local industry has not reported any negative effect in terms of sales and prices since the issue surfaced.

“We have not experienced any reduction on demand from our markets. We asked exporters, they said there was no reduction of orders and we expect that there will be no effect in the months to come,” he added.

This year, prospects for the local industry is much better compared last year when the country reeled from the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

The PCA targets to reach at least $2 billion in export revenues from coconut oil this year, double the $1.01 billion earnings generated last year.

The US remains the biggest market destination of coconut oil exports for the past five years with an average volume of 352,000 metric tons per annum or about 43 percent of the aggregate.

Netherlands came second, followed by Japan. Other top markets include China, Italy and Spain.

Coconut oil in the Philippines takes up 80 percent of the total coconut-based exports.