Cofiport's vision is “To become a trusted producer of food, beverage, and nutraceutical products that are ethically sourced, grown and produced in sustainable manners, and contribute to better health and well-being of both farmers/producers and consumers.”
To realize our vision, we have crafted a comprehensive 10-Year Sustainability Program which we have started to implement in January 2022 and will guide our projects and product offerings until 2031.
Nicknamed “Legado”--a more profound version of the Filipino term “pamana,” which translates to “legacy” in English--our Sustainability Program integrates our manufacturing processes with cultivation of high-value crops as well as upcycling of agricultural wastes into higher-value food, beverage, and pharmaceutical/nutraceutical products.
Legado is grounded on two correlated paradigms:
- the Circular Economy model and
- the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Sustainable Food Systems Framework
These paradigms serve as the foundation for our projects that can be classified into three dimensions of sustainability--economic, social, and environmental.
A. Economic Sustainability
Project #1: Contract-Growing for Commercial Production of High-Value Crops
Our partner-growers harvesting chilies (Philippine Labuyo/"Siling Tirik"), September 2023
We are theorizing that it is deliberate that the FAO listed “economic sustainability” first in the SFS Framework. Coming from the private sector, we firmly believe that there is a much greater chance of success if projects provide “food on the table” (pun intended).
As such, it is also first in our priority to ensure that our Program will generate not only fair but attractive financial rewards to our partner landowners and growers.
Our first project involves contract-growing for the commercial production of high-value crops for raw materials that our own Company are using for our manufacturing. Our model is quite simple—we provide the inputs (i.e., seedlings/planting materials, fertilizers, pesticides, equipments, tools, etc), training, and guidance to our partner-growers and whatever they harvest we buy back at pre-agreed prices. For crops/trees that will take years to bear fruits, we are paying a fixed amount for each plant every year to our partner-grower until we harvest. Our partner landowners receive the same amount of income as our partner-growers, under a flex-lease agreement.
Currently, we are cultivating 50 hectares of farmlands in Camarines Sur that have been idle/unproductive for decades. Our target is to expand this to 100 hectares by 2026.
OUR PRIORITY CROPS
CASH CROPS (6-18 months)
- Chilies (20 high-value gourmet varieties including Philippine labuyo "siling tirik", carolina reapers, peri-peri, cayenne, boule de feu, ghost chili/bhut jolokia, habanero, scotch bonnet, trinidad scorpion, red cherry chili, and aji amarillo peruano)
- Stevia
- Bananas (specifically Latundan)
- Pineapples
- Berries (5 high-value varieties including Philippine cranberry "bignay", goooseberry/uchuva, and mulberry)
- Hibiscus (Roselle)
- Blue Ternate/Butterfly Pea
- Other edible flowers
MID-TERM CROPS (18-36 months)
- Maracuya/Passion Fruit
- Pomegranate
LONG-TERM CROPS (3+ years)
- Coffee (Liberica)
- Cacao
- Coconuts
- Vanilla
- Bamboo (solida, iron bamboo, giant asper, and giant dragon)
“HERITAGE TREES”
- Our goal is to plant 100 different kinds of Philippine native trees (wood, flowering, and fruit-bearing)
B. Social Sustainability
Project #2: Farmers Cooperative
We aim to assist and support our partner-growers and partner-landowners in establishing a farmer's cooperative. Initially nicknamed as “Marayani” (a portmanteau of the Bicol phrase “Maray na Ani”), the envisioned cooperative aims to embody the slogan “Maray ang ani sa sustainable farming” and foster sustainability through its programs/missions which includes:
- Secure contracts (contract-growing) and orders for members;
- Provide technical and financial support to members to ensure that they are able to fulfill/deliver contracts/orders;
- Give scholarships to children/nominees of the members if they are taking agriculture or food tech-related courses/degrees;
- Secure group crop insurance to protect farmers from calamities and risks;
- Establish a retirement program for members/farmers as a support after their retirement years.
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Project #3: Community Outreach and Education
Livelihood for Non-Farmers in the Community
We aim to provide livelihood opportunities also to non-farmers in the community, especially to women, elderly, and handicapped. As an example, we are currently contracting the production of various non-food merchandise (such as beverage coasters, hot cup insulators, body scrubs, candles and scents, bags and wallets, etc) using spoilages from our production (e.g., expired coffee beans, rejected flower-teas, used coffee grounds, used coffee burlap sacks). Similar to the contract-growing, we provide the raw materials and we buy-back finished merchandise.
Center for R&D and Innovation for Building Capability and Legacy (CREDIBILITY)
Under Legado, we envision to establish and institutionalize a multi-purpose science and technology (S&T) center that triples as:
- a manufacturing production facility;
- research, development, and innovation (R&DI) center; and
- learning/training center
where students, interns, teachers, researchers, scientists, subject matter experts, small businesses, cooperatives, and other interest groups can immerse in our farms and facilities, participate in collaborative learning, and conduct research and scientific studies.
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Project #4: Healthier Higher-Value Products
From Day 1 of our operations, we have made a deliberate decision to ONLY produce products that support healthier lifestyles.
In particular, we are focused on the cultivation and manufacture of food, beverage, and nutraceutical products that could help in the prevention, management, and potential reversal of the topmost health ailments of Filipinos—diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
Additionally, in line with a personal advocacy of one of our Founders, we are also prioritizing plant-based products that could help in stalling neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other mental health concerns.
C. Environmental Sustainability
Project #5: Nursery
At our nurseries, aside from seedlings for our contract-growers and our own operational needs, we propagate seedlings of the following plants/trees to supply other farms and organizations:
Bamboo
We have in our nurseries varieties of solida, iron bamboo, giant asper, and giant dragon bamboo, which we have consciously selected for their value as:- alternative to timber/engineered wood--could provide our country’s needs for more affordable housing and furniture (not to mention the opportunities for export);
- reforestation and carbon sequestration; and
- source of cellulose and fiber for various applications in food, pharmaceutical/nutraceutical, and construction industries
Coconut
The Philippines is the second largest coconut-producing country and the world's leading exporter of coconut products. Sadly, many of the coconut trees that are still standing were planted in the 60s/70s and are no longer productive. We would like to be able to contribute in replenishing our nation with this extremely valuable commodity.
Coffee (Liberica/Excelsa)
Unknown to most Filipinos (even those who consider themselves coffee addicts), once a upon a time the Philippines was a leading producer of coffee. There was even a period in history that for 3 years the only source of coffee beans in the world was the Philippines. While it would take massive efforts for us to regain this lost glory, we could still take adavantage of the growing demand for specialty coffee worldwide, and industry experts are forecasting that the next big thing in coffee is “Liberica”—the family of the Philippine barako.
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Project #6: Recovery
In the spirit of circular economy, we believe wholeheartedly that the answer to climate change is contained in a very old and very simple command from our (Filipino) parents—“Matuto tayong magtipid!” And this is why we want to recover and upcycle as much as we can! It sounds better to say it in Filipino—“Dapat walang tapon!”
We are upcycling our agricultural wastes and byproducts from our processing into three (3) categories:
- agricultural inputs that we also need (e.g., fertilizers, compost, FPJ, natural pesticides, potting bags, coco fiber/peat/coir);
- microcrystalline cellulose extract for pharmaceutical/nutraceutical purposes; and
- animal feeds
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Project #7: Legacy
Our Founder grew up in a very small house in a very small barangay in a very small town called Malabon (now a city). And yet she recalls that around their very tiny house, there were more than a dozen trees that provided her and her playmates a daily supply of nutritiously natural snacks, and a seemingly infinite number of things to play with. She would recite as she reminisces—“duhat, makopa, balimbing, kamias, siniguelas, bayabas, manzanitas, aratilis..” And that’s what we want to accomplish with what our Founder calls “Heritage Trees”.
Subject to the recommendations of our arborists, botanists, and foresters, we are aiming to plant 100 kinds of Philippine native trees that could be wood, flowering, or fruit-bearing.
Imagining how it would look like 10-15 years from now, our Founder would always end her daydreaming with “A thousand trees for our grandchildren…that would be my true legacy.”