The Department of Trade and Industry – Laguna Provincial Office (DTI-Laguna), aside from other government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture CALABARZON (DA CALABARZON) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), continue to provide assistance to our local farmers not just to level up their products but also to sustain their growing business operation.
One of our local farmers who benefitted from these various interventions is the Luisiana Cacao Growers Producers Cooperative from Luisiana, Laguna.
Where it all started
From November 2012 to April 2013, Mr. Pedrito Mergilla, the present Chairman of Luisiana Cacao Growers Producers Cooperative, together with his colleagues attended the Farmers Field School for cacao farmers conducted by DA CALABARZON. After their participation in the aforesaid program, they were granted with 50 grafted cacao seedlings and were given a number of interventions from cultivation to growing processes.
On August 13, 2014, the group was registered as an association named Luisiana Cacao Growers Association. At the start, they had a struggle in selling the cacao pods since there was no available market for these raw fruits. Moreover, they hired someone to conduct a coaching session on the step-by-step processes — from fermenting, to roasting, to winnowing of beans — as they had no further knowledge on the processing of cacao beans. What they did back then was they took the processed beans outside of their area for grinding and then manually molded these at home, as they had no machines and equipment to help them minimize time and help them work on this more efficiently. They kept on processing at the area in the Luisiana Municipal Hall where they started managing their cacao bean processing to produce tablea.
Assistance from Government and Other Agencies
In 2016, they received roaster and winnowing machines and grinder from DA CALABARZON that greatly help them improve their operations. On May 22, 2018, with the help of the Municipal Agriculture’s Office, the former association was registered as a cooperative. This became a gateway for them to be acknowledged by other agencies that later on provided them with other assistance and support. With an initial accumulated capital of Php218,000.00 from its 50 members, Luisiana Cacao Growers Producers Cooperative was established.
In 2018, the Philippine Rural Development Project granted them with the provision of two buildings, machineries, and equipment including vacuum sealer, chiller, other utensils, and molder. The implementation of building construction was conducted in 2020 and the physical turnover was held in 2022. Alongside this project was the construction of the Cooperative’s physical store located at Rizal Park, Luisiana, Laguna, which costed approximately Php148,000.00 from its fund. They started the operations in the same year wherein they offered other pasalubong products and their own manufactured tablea. However, as the demand escalated, the local harvest of pods was not enough to cover the needs of production. Therefore, they did scout and they looked for suppliers of dried beans outside their vicinity.
In 2022, the Cooperative received more than what they had expected. DOST provided a milling machine and the Department of Agriculture, under the High Value Crops Development Program, awarded them an Isuzu Traviz transport van. In addition to this, they were granted Php250,000.00 by the Cooperative Development Authority which made them acquire additional equipment such as butter separator and a computer set with printer.
Another assistance that they received was capacity building seminar and compliance training facilitated by DTI-Laguna, including Food Safety Seminar and labeling and packaging consultations. In the same year, they became one of the beneficiaries of DTI-Laguna’s Coconut Farmers Industry Development Program which primarily provided them with product development and market matching assistance. Furthermore, their active participation in trade fairs initiated by different government agencies including DTI-Laguna, DOST, Department of Agriculture, and private organization like SM Foundation served as an effective marketing and promotion.
How it is going
Currently, the Cooperative has 63 members wherein working officers receive daily wages and allowance during scheduled meetings. For daily store operations, an assigned member has to manage the selling and inventory of products and is being assisted by their hired General Manager who focuses on business transactions and overall management of the Cooperative. They sell the 120 g pack of chocolate tablea for Php130.00 (retail price) and presently developing a butter chocolate with a kick of strong and dark flavor. Also, their application for License to Operate under the Food and Drug Administration is being processed with the assistance of Philippine Rural Development Project.
There is also an ongoing research and development of cacao-bean-based products that was initiated by Chemical Engineer Students from De La Salle University. These products include body scrub, energy ball, bath soap, and choco bibingka. This project aims to provide the Cooperative innovative ways to create new products that they can offer to the general public.
Furthermore, under the INSPIRE Program (Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion), the Cooperative received a grant of Php10,000,000 worth of project for hog raising. It is currently under construction and an ocular visitation and inspection is to be scheduled thereafter.
The Cooperative’s future plans involve implementing a KADIWA Rolling Store wherein they plan to buy crops or local harvested fruits and vegetables at a higher price and sell them to the public at a price lower than its market price. Moreover, they plan to conduct cacao farming learning sessions at their site. They will equip the members with necessary set of skills through National Training and Trainers Methodology by Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and acquired accreditation from Agricultural Training Institute.
These initiatives will provide them more opportunities to grow and share their advocacy to other locals. “Kapit lang, maging makatotohanan ang plano at maayos na pakikipagkapuwa-tao,” this is Pedrito’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. He emphasized that what needs to continue has to continue. Also, he expressed sincerest gratitude to all National Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations who provided assistance and unwavering support to Luisiana Cacao Growers Producers Cooperative.
Date of Release: 09 May 2024
