Dutch firm eyes coco-based export venture in PH

Netherlands-based Van der Knaap Group is exploring new opportunities in the Philippines, which the company plans to turn into a major exporter of coconut husk products to the United States, China and Japan.

In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed the plan of Van der Knaap executives to come to the Philippines and help revive the country’s neglected coconut sector.

The DTI said Dinesh Fernando, managing director of Van der Knaap group subsidiary Euro Substrates Ltd., was in the Philippines recently to help set up the firm’s initial investment in the country—a $1.5-million processing facility in Mati, Mindanao.

“Fernando is arranging his next visit with Ron van der Knaap, CEO of the Van der Knaap Group of Companies to the Philippines,” the DTI said in the statement.

“Two months from now, they plan to explore business opportunities in Laguna and Quezon,” it added.

Apart from doing work in Mindanao, Fernando also went to Quezon to inspect Cocos Nucifera Pacific Enterprise (CNPE), a coco net weaving training and livelihood center in Gumaca, Quezon.

With the Van der Knaap Group’s initial visit in Quezon, new byproducts from coco peat were considered for the export market. Currently, raw coco peat is sold in the local market only as soil conditioner.

The Van der Knaap group is a provider of sustainable and high-quality products and services in the field of rooting and growing media for horticulture worldwide. Van der Knaap Group has more than 30 years of experience, with sales turnover of $50 million. It sells to more than 50 countries around the globe.

Coco peat—also known as coir dust, coir pith—or coir fibre pith, is made of coconut husks.

The DTI said these raw materials could and should be processed into coco peat products used for horticultural and agricultural applications. In processing it, coco peat is turned into a high-value planting medium by changing its properties.

Data from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) showed that the annual global production of coir was  350,000 metric tons (MT), with India and Sri Lanka contributing about 90 percent of the global supply.

The largest single importer is China, importing as much as 200,000 MT of coir fiber every year. Philippine exports of coir were placed an average of 1,123 MT, a mere 0.5 percent of the total demand.