VillageCoco Charcoal - Puerto Princesa, Philippines

VillageCoco Charcoal will purchase coconut shell, processes it into charcoal, crush and package it into bulk bags and distribute to international clients. VillageCoco plans the 1st shipment in the 4th Quarter of 2012.

To ensure a sufficient and stable supply of coconut shell VillageCoco Charcoal has funded and supported the development of the Palawan Fair Trade Coconut Association. Members of this association will deliver their coconut shell to the Palawan Fair Trade Coconut Association, whose sole customer is VillageCoco Charcoal. All of the Association’s suppliers do not use fertilisers on their coconut palms as the soil is fertile in this region and the rainfall is plentiful. So the charcoal made from the shell is free of petroleum, mineral coal and limestone.

Coconut shell  

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is a waste product in Palawan that is normally discarded by farmers after the coconut meat (copra) is removed. Therefore the farmers have not been deriving an income from their shell until becoming a member of the Palawan Fair Trade Coconut Association. VillageCoco Charcoal pays a fair price for the shell, set by the Fairtrade Association, immediately upon delivery. The Associations suppliers, if they supply their full quota of shell, should generate an additional 10-15% income from each palm. As there is virtually no additional cost associated with the shell, other than delivery costs, the increase in the farmer’s disposal income is closer to 40-50% based on the profitability of their copra sales at the time. This will make a very significant improvement in the standard and quality of the supplier’s livelihood.

VillageCoco Charcoal processes the shell in large, efficient kilns managed by experienced charcoal makers. With well-established and comprehensive quality assurance and production systems in place VillageCoco Charcoal can ensure a high and consistent quality of charcoal. Most of the charcoal suppliers in the Philippines source charcoal from the farmers, as a result quality standards vary widely.

The charcoal is then ground into different sizes and packed in dust proof 20 kilogram bags for safe and dust free shipment. The minimum order is 21 tonnes, or one 20” container F.O.B Hong Kong, to minimise logistics costs and ensure there is minimum handling of the product.