Certification, Packaging Enhancement and Promotion of Coco Sugar

This project intends to create and expand the market of coco sugar through certification, packaging enhancement and promotion. The Philippine Coconut Industry is pushing for the increase in coco sugar production, noting its huge export market potential, especially in health conscious markets. The market for alternative sweeteners has reached $1.1 billion and continues to increase its share in sweetener consumption. The potential for the product looks great and the Philippines would likely become a dominant player in the coco sugar market since it is the top coconut exporting country in the world. However, production and marketing of coco sugar are constrained with product accreditation and quality standards to protect the consumers, limited knowledge on food safety among toddy gatherers and processors, low production capacity of existing facilities, limited packaging style that would cater to customers’ preferences, e.g. cubes and sachet, and poor awareness of the product benefits or health advantage over other natural sweeteners.