RSS MAD

Escape to the sun.

New blog, new show dates,...and some other stuff..

We now have a new Cocovida UK blog, http://www.cocovida.co.uk/blog/ You may find it a lot easier to navigate than this one, and it certainly gives more detail about us. I hope you like it. Many thanks to Nigel, our director in the UK, for taking the time and effort to get it up and running, and also for transferring the posts from this blog.



Matthew has a stall at the Buxton Health and Healing Festival on the 23rd and 24th June. http://www.mbsfestivals.com/ This festival is one the biggest and the best in the UK. It is well worth a visit, regardless of whether you visit Matthew's stall. Let's hope the weather improves a little for this weekend........... It could hardly get any worse.



Almost a month ago we sent out a press release about Mel's amazing new hair oil, Charisma. At long last, the product is available. Our printer Albert and his trusty assistant, Jeff, have finally finished the labels. As I type this post, the first bottles are being loaded onto a plane, for shipment to the UK.

I am presently in the UK, taking my turn to care for my mum. Today she had a visit from nurses at the local memory clinic. She took all the necessary tests and scored a creditable 17/30. I scored a little less...........Of course, she has done these tests before, so she remembered some of the answers. It was my first time...........I am also absolutely certain she was cheating. She kept looking in her handbag.............They get away with murder, these old people.

Sorry, I forgot.

Matthew Stockwell, (Coconutty), has a booth at Leeds Farmer's Market this Sunday, the 17th.

Matthew will be selling virtually the whole Cocovida range, as well as other coconut products. He is always happy to chat about anything to do with coconuts.......and occasionally other subjects.

If you have time, please take a trip to the market and say hello to Matthew.

More praise.

Okay, okay, so I promised not to post any more testimonials. This will definitely be the last. (He types with his fingers crossed.)

This email was sent to us by a German buyer, who visited our plant while Mel and I were in Samar.
.........................................................................................................................................................................

Hello cocovidateam,
Yes i visit u but u was not there, but u manager there was very kind and explain me. I was suprise how clean it was, its not everywhere in the philipp. like that! I looking for soap, for the first i just looking for arounf 1.000 items. Please give me u best price for export to germany.

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Three points.

Zak, our plant manager is brilliant.

Mel makes absolutely certain that our plant is spotlessly clean.

We had to inform this very kind man that we sell Cocovida soaps through our German website, http://www.cocovida.de/ and will not be able to supply other companies.


Sorry, one last point. The soaps are amazing!!!

Meet the staff. Episode 1. Joy.

Over the year that I have been writing this blog, I have told the reader(s) about all the things Mel and I have done on behalf of Cocovida. I have mentioned the trips we have taken, the shows we have attended, the awards we have won and the projects we are working on. This blog has been pretty much about Mel and myself. I have broken it up a little, with videos of The Cocovida Band singing and dancing. I have also tried to to give our staff as much credit as possible, for any success we have had. However, I probably didn't give enough credit, where it was due...........Let's change that a little.



This young lady, (pictured with Cocovida's ferocious guard dog, Tom), is Joy Pazon. Over the 18 months Joy has been working for us, she has made herself almost indispensable. Not only does she work to the highest possible standards, she does it with a permanent smile on her face. Joy has the perfect temperament for a virgin coconut oil producer, but of course, that would apply to whatever job she was doing. She is close to being the ideal employee.....She also has an incredible sense of humour.



So what makes this young lady so special, apart from her work ethic?.......Well, for a start, she sends all the wages she earns to her family. She is not married, does not have children, but does feel responsible for making sure her parents and younger siblings have enough money to live on. I can honestly say that I can't remember her ever spending any money on herself.



Joy, like several of our staff, came to us from Biliran. Biliran is an island province, in The Eastern Visayas. It is one of The Philippines smallest provinces and is about a 32 hour bus ride from Manila. Like many of her friends, Joy has ended up in Manila, looking for work, in order to try and support her family........Luckily for Cocovida, she decided to work for us.

When she started with us, Joy took on the role of cook. Unfortunately for me, she is a very good cook. This explains my increase in weight over the last year.........(That and the price of San Miguel Light at Mrs. Ferrer's Sari Sari Store.) Now, Joy is helping Manilyn with the harvesting and the bottling, helping Zac and Robert with the packing, helping Edgar and Jenny with the labelling.........and training Tom, for his entry onto the dog show circuit. It is only a matter of time before she is involved in the grating and pressing. Soon after that, she will be after my job, as soon as anyone works out what it is I actually do.

I am often impressed when a website I visit gives details about the employees of the company. For a start, it makes me more confident they actually exist, and that the company is being completely honest in everything they say..........Cocovida should have done this much earlier, simply because we have the best employees.

Joy is a great singer and dancer. (Check out the Cocovida videos on YouTube). Also, for someone who is petite, she is an amazing basketball player.

Our award for The Best Virgin Coconut Oil Manufacturer is now being presented on the 31st July, at the Ducit Hotel in Manila. This time it will be collected by as many of our staff as they allow us to send on stage.


COMING SOON .................Edgar.

More VIPs

Easily the best post so far.

I think I have written all the posts on this blog so far. There have been some good ones and some bad ones. However, this post takes things to a totally different level.......Unfortunately I didn't write it. The gentleman who did, Father Shay Cullen, has generously given us permission to use it. It says everything I have wanted to say about Fair Trade and FloCert, but he writes it far better than I ever could.



Please take a long look at the work Father Shay's Foundation is undertaking at http://www.preda.org/. These are people who are actually making a massive difference to the lives of those that desperately need help,.......not sitting in a plush FloCert office in Oakland, Tokyo, London or Bonn, deciding where they should go for lunch.

Chris and Ines, our distributors in Germany, got even less response to their requests for information on Fair Trade in The Philippines, than I did. My latest follow-up email got a reply to say the lady would be back in her office in two weeks. Chris didn't even get a reply to any of his emails.

This is Father Shay's newsletter, it is brilliant.


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Fair Trade logos and marks must benefit the poor and not the rich.

By: Father Shay Cullen


Readers of this column all over the world tell me how heartbroken they are when they read about children in prison, enslaved in brothels or sweat shops and living on the street. They realise unfair trade and corruption is the root of all poverty hunger and suffering.
That’s why we have to tackle the root causes of poverty especially in world trade and change the unjust trading system. Nowhere is the greed and selfishness of some nations more obvious than in the way they protect their own agricultural industries and block the products of the developing nations from entering their markets.
The imposition of stringent standards by rich countries and even some fair trade labeling and certification companies can be so strict in the pursuit of profits, protection, or perfection, that they can block the products from the poorest producers and end up helping the rich multinational corporations.
Fair Trade has become such a powerful selling point that the concept itself is a commodity and is being exploited for profit. To get a certification that your product is fairly traded the producer has to pay a big fee and a percent of all sales to the labeling company. When the Fair Trade movement first started the importing and distribution organisations in the developed countries opened the door to the poor and set basic criteria that would make it possible for the poor to benefit most.
When these dedicated justice loving organisations made ‘Fair Trade’ an ethical practice and a popular selling point, the labeling and certification companies then appeared and commercialised the ‘Fair Trade’ idea. They made it into a logo and sold it to companies willing to pay for it. It’s now big business. Even multinational corporations of questionable practices want the fair trade logo on their products to cover up their tarnished images.
Then some other corporations like Nestle with its coffee and the corporations behind Chiquito bananas have been given the logo for a single product and they crow to the world that they are a ‘Fair Trade’ company. The rest of their products are not fair trade? Would they ever be allowed to join the distinguished and most rusted Fair trade organisation of all the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT)? I think not.
Labeling companies are in it not to protect small fair trade organisations and producers but to make money from selling the logo. Apparently they are not even interested in certifying small struggling producer groups because they sell so little and while the logo might help them succeed they can’t get it. So the neediest are excluded from the label and the market. They will certify a token few.
No one knows where the authority to make and impose their rules on others came from. They seem to be self appointed. So that means other labeling company can emerge and certify Fair Trade products. That is exactly what the Philippine and Asian fair trade organisations are planning to do. They are tired of being lectured and dictated to from the North countries. The labeling companies have to be challenged because the power they have to exclude small producers is awesome. To be certified by them is success in the markets to be refused or shunned is a one way ticket to oblivion.
One labeling company in the UK had no qualms of conscience when they persuaded a supermarket chain to remove Philippine dried fruit products from the fair Trade shelves because they did not have their logo. They contacted that Philippine company and asked that they apply and pay to get the logo. Is this extortion, illegal practice or what?
This Philippine Fair Trade Company that is helping hundreds of Filipino farmers, indigenous people, exploited women and children for the past 30 years has suffered cancelled orders and incurred huge losses. The development programmes for Filipino children and farmers are damaged.
To pursue profit in the guise of virtue must be the most insidious forms of unfair trading. We have to work for justice in trade it’s the only way to change an unjust world and end the hunger and starvation afflicting millions around the world. (End)
Fair Trade NEWS page Fair Trade Home page PREDA vs FLO Page
PREDA Fairtrade ProductsUpper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, PhilippinesTel: +63 47 2239629 Fax: +63 47 2239628

Da Coconut Nut

Finally, the full length, album version, of that classic tune, "Da Coconut Nut", by The Cocovida Band. (Formerly, Robert Gubantes and The Coconuts).

The lyrics have been altered slightly, as the original lyrics made absolutely no sense at all,......and didn't mention VCO once.

Virtually all filipinos can sing and dance........ We are quite lucky, 5 out of 6 isn't bad.

He's gonna be a star.

Press release.

COCOVIDA PHILIPPINES CORPORATION LAUNCHES NEW PRODUCT


Cocovida Philippines Corporation today announced the launch of it's latest hair oil, Charisma.


Quezon City, Philippines....May 14th 2007. Cocovida Philippines Corporation, the award-winning producer of ANH (Absolutely No Heat) virgin coconut oil (VCO), today brought it's newest product to the market place.

Following the runaway success of Alexis VCO For Hair, Cocovida decided the market was ready for another variant. Mel Learmouth, the founder and president of the company, explained the reasoning behind the new product.

"We were amazed and delighted with the reaction to Alexis. It took us completely by surprise. It is now almost common knowledge, that virgin coconut oil is a superb moisturiser and conditioner for hair, but we genuinely thought, the fact that pure VCO starts to solidify at below 75f, and therefore the bottle sometimes needs warming before application, would make customers think twice before purchasing. However, it seems that the opposite is the case. People are looking for the purest, most natural products they can find. Our distributors were continually being asked if there were any variants of VCO for hair. They were pushing us for a new product.......That new product is here, it is Charisma......As with Alexis, Charisma is manufactured using the first press of our cold-processed oil. I think it is almost impossible to find a more natural oil."

Mrs. Learmouth, who recently learned that her company had been chosen as The No1 Manufacturer of Virgin Coconut Oil 2006, in the 6th Philippine National Shopper's Choice Awards, added, "Obviously , it has been a great week for Cocovida. Now we have to make absolutely certain we continue to keep to the standards we have set ourselves. Charisma will be the first of several new products, most of which, will be produced in our new plant in Dolores, Eastern Samar."

As well as The Philippines, Cocovida has websites in the UK, Germany and Singapore.

.........................................................................................................................................................................

Not one mention of me...... Mel said this, Mel said that, Mel said something else......Nobody asked me, did they!!!

Tom....a guard dog.

This is the latest member of the Cocovida "family", Tom.

This picture was taken the first time we saw him, in the local pet shop window. We very nearly bought him there and then, because he looked in need of a good home.......and I desperately needed a guard dog, for my prized collection of late 1960's, early 1970's, English folk and rock albums. (Including Swallow Tales by Cochise and the classic Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention!!).

We visited the shop again a few days later and he was still there.

You will no doubt be very upset to learn he has already chewed the cover of The Gypsy by Mr. Fox.

Change of plan.

I have just received an email from Matthew in the UK, that the information I gave in an earlier post, has been changed.

The new details are as follows.

26,27,28 May - The Complementary Therapy Exhibition, Sutton Park Stately Home, York.


Sutton Park Stately Home!!! That is the sort of place with which Cocovida ought to be associated. Of course, York is an incredibly beautiful city. Where better to spend some time over a bank holiday weekend.......and purchase some award-winning health and beauty products while you are there.

R.I.P. Albert.

This is the new label for Mel's eagerly awaited new creation, "Charisma".

As I mentioned before, our printer Albert and his assistant Jeff, have been working on it for an eternity. It is, in my opinion, the best design they have ever done for us. (Which probably doesn't say much about their other efforts)

Of course, as is always the case with Albert, he managed to make a glaring omission........This time he completely forgot to place the name "Cocovida" anywhere on the label.

Albert is now buried somewhere on the vacant lot opposite our plant.

STOP PRESS!!!!

We have just received notification that our little company has been chosen as the "No 1 Manufacturer of Virgin Coconut Oil", in the 6th National Shopper's Choice Annual Awards.

This may not mean much to our customers in the UK, Canada, Germany, Singapore and other parts of the world, but it means a hell of a lot to us. If you haven't already guessed, we are not a big company. Even in The Philippines, we are considered very small. So for us to come out on top, when there are so many big players in the market, is a massive compliment to Mel and the team.

If you have been regular readers of my ramblings, you will know all of our staff by now. Except of course, our newest recruit, Jenny, who only joined us this week. I have said it many times, and I will no doubt say it again and again, they are the best!! We have lost Gemma, which was a massive disappointment, but Jenny, given time and training, is going to be a perfect replacement.

We are being presented with the award on May 31st, at The Dusit Nikko Hotel in Makati, which is apparently quite a grand hotel. I will no doubt be posting photographs on this blog.

As always, when something amazing happens, there is a drawback. The problem lies with our printer, Albert, and his assistant, Jeff. They have just spent the last two months, working on the designs of our new labels, for the 500ml VCO and the new Charisma Oil for Hair.......Now we have won another award.....Which means another logo, to be added to the labels........I am not going to be the one to tell them. I'm too nice. Mel can do it. She's far tougher than I am.

Don't miss.

Matthew Stockwell (Coconutty) is out and about over the next month. If you get a chance to attend the following shows, please pay a visit to his stall. He is a great guy.......Tell him Steve and Mel sent you!!


May 6..... Leeds Farmers Market, Kirkgate, Leeds.

May 12 & 13........ The Natural Living Show, Port Vale Football Club, Stoke on Trent.

May 26 & 27........ The Natural Living Show, The Winding Wheel, Holywell Street, Chesterfield.

June 3 Leeds....... Farmers Market, Kirkgate, Leeds.

You can purchase almost the entire Cocovida range from Matthew, as well as other coconut products. You will be absolutely amazed at the difference these products will make to your health.

Home again.

What makes Cocovida different?

The following was written by Mel, for display in our office, but I couldn't have written it any better, so here it is.

Mel speaks fluent Tagalog, Waray, Arabic and fairly good Chinese. I was going to correct her minor mistakes in English, but then decided the text doesn't need it........I ought to use my time learning Tagalog!!

Also, my English isn't that good anyway.

.........................................................................................................................................................................

What makes COCOVIDA different from others?

1) Cleanliness:
- The Cocovida products, especially our very own Virgin Coconut Oil as a
food supplement. Consumers are assured of its cleanliness and hygiene
in the production of our VCO.

2) Purity:
- Our VCO is pure and 100% natural, meaning NO additives, non RBD,
and no short cuts to produce the products. Our VCO tastes good on its own and we don’t need to add anything to make it palatable. Masarap na siya on its own natural and pure coconut flavor.

3) One producer:
- Our VCO is manufactured ONLY by us, meaning ONE method, ONE producer and strict supervision by us, and never mix it with other coconut oils. We would like to assure our consumers of our best quality products which is COMPLIANT to the regulations of the Philippine National Standard and its quality.

4) Honestly cares
- We care for the consumers, employees and the environment in which we operate. We don’t just throw our rubbish here and there. Our waste is properly stored to avoid contamination to assure a healthy surrounding. Consumers trust our products and our employees are dedicated to their work to produce the best and they deserve to have what is due them…..which is respect.


5) Finally….we make sure that, " We walk the walk "
Meaning, we "practice what we preach" and believe that with KNOWLEDGE. INTEGRITY, PASSION, AWARENESS, DEDICATION, AND SIMPLICITY, ……
we can be successful in producing the best products. It is not going to be easy, but can be done. And this is what , we set our minds on. ( KIPADS )
Here at Cocovida Philippines Corporation, " NOTHING IS GOOD ENOUGH… BUT THE BEST, …. and that, what makes Cocovida different from the rest !!!

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I think the difference is......Mel genuinely means it.

A quick update.

I apologise for the lack of posts over the last week. For several reasons, (the most important being my mum's health), I am now in the UK. Yet again, Mel and the team are having to cope without me. As always, things seem to go much better when I am a few thousand miles away. I guess that is something to do with everybody increasing their effort, to make up for my absence.......Or the fact that I am actually a liability most of the time.

Anyway, less of my problems, let's tell you what is happening in the world of Cocovida and our friends.

We now have another distributor in the UK. Matthew, or "Coconutty" to his friends, can now be found most weekends at a show, trade fair, or farmer's market, somewhere near you. Our first shipment was sent to Matthew a couple of weeks ago, since when he has had stalls at shows in and around Leeds and Doncaster. Obviously, we are absolutely delighted to welcome him to the team. I have listed the Coconutty website along with our other distributors, on the right hand side of the blog. At the time of writing, the website is still under construction, but it shouldn't be long before it will be finished. If you are visiting any organic and natural product shows in the North of England, it is quite likely Matthew will be in attendance. I know he will be delighted if you drop by to say hello.......He will be even more delighted if you buy something!!!

Chris and Ines, our friends and distributors in Germany, have had their sites hacked. This happened about three weeks ago, since when Chris has already rebuilt the main site, even better than before. Some people would have been totally devastated, to see all their hard work wiped away, but Chris and Ines are not the type of people to let a setback deter them. They just saw it as another challenge to overcome............I have said it before, and I will no doubt say it again, we work with some really special people.

Mel has been working incredibly hard formulating a new mosquito repellent and a new massage oil. I have to say that the ingredients are so secret that even I have no idea what she is using. The only clue I have, is that she keeps phoning her mother, telling her to dig up her sweet potatoes and plant a field of lemongrass.

Don't worry, the aid project in Samar is still on track. I have just decided not to tempt fate by constantly writing about it. We are working with people who have kept every promise they have made, and we will do the same. There will be much more on this subject next month.


Have a really great Easter.

The production process.

As I will not have time to make a better attempt at showing our production process on YouTube this week, I have posted a few photographs, to try and give you a better idea of what happens after the separation of the coconut milk.

1. (The top photograph.) The coconut milk is separating into 3 distinct layers. The protein at the top, the oil in the middle, the skim milk at the bottom.

2. This photograph shows the protein on top of the oil.

3. Gemma is removing the protein. She is brilliant at this because she has very steady hands.........Needless to say, my hands shake too much and the protein flies everywhere.

4. A photograph of Mrs. Steadyhands herself. This photograph is not really needed, but she hasn't had much coverage on this blog recently, so here she is.

I mention on our website and I will mention it again here. The purity of our oil is vitally important to us. That is why Gem is dressed like she is in an operating theatre.

5. The protein has been removed and we can now "harvest" the oil.

6 and 7. Show the oil being filtered as it is harvested. It will be filtered up to 8 times, over a 4 week period, before it is bottled. After each filtering, the moisture, which has separated at the bottom of the pail, will be discarded. This is our method of reducing the moisture level to way below The Philippine National Standard. Our last analysis report shows a moisture content of only 0.07%, against the PNS of 0.20.......Of course we could just subject our oil to varying amounts of heat,.......but we don't. We want to produce the oil in the most natural manner.

Soon to follow......The bottling.....I bet you can hardly wait.

Some more of the production process.

This feeble attempt to show our production process has been on YouTube for quite a while now.

I wasn't going to show it again on this blog, but as other people consider it good enough to show on their blogs, then perhaps we ought to show it on here at regular intervals, so it doesn't get missed.

It was done for fun really, and we will do something far better as soon as we get time.........and as soon as we get some staff that can act. You wouldn't believe the number of takes we had for the harvesting section. Manilyn had to call make-up at least a dozen times before she was prepared to make her bid for international stardom.

Congratulations Yves, Arnie and Carmeli.

Last week we had the honour to be invited to the Canadian Embassy. The company which has been very instrumental in putting together the project in Eastern Samar, has received an award from CIDA, (Canadian International Development Agency), and they very kindly invited us along to watch them receive their gold badges, and meet the Canadian Ambassador, Peter Sutherland.

Stratexport International Inc. received the Special Recognition Award for Long-Term Commitment to International Cooperation.

The award highlights Stratexport's long-term commitment in promoting the expansion of Canadian SMEs globally, and supporting international cooperation, by integrating environment protection, gender equality, and community development measures, in all their projects. Over a 13 year period, Stratexport International has been involved in over 60 projects, covering a wide range of industries, in 15 countries of South East Asia and Latin America.

You could say, that if you win an award one year, be it an Oscar, or The Best Virgin Coconut Oil Manufacturer in The Philippines, you might just be lucky. (Obviously not in our case, but an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love!?)...... However, if that award is for work on 60 projects, spanning a 13 year period, in 15 different countries, then luck doesn't come into it......These guys are just the best at what they do, it's as simple as that. Cocovida is extremely privileged to be working with a company of this stature.

The bottom two photographs, show Arnie Tablante (project coordinator) and Carmeli Chaves (gender equality specialist) receiving their gold badges.

The top photograph is of Yves Cote, the president of Stratexport, Ambassador Peter Sutherland, and The Canadian Trade Commissioner, Ms. Ellen Ruth Zeisler.......oh, and Mel and me.

I WAS JOKING!!!!

At the end of Eric's song, I was joking.

Honestly, I explained it to him afterwards. He knows I wasn't serious.

Please stop the death threats.

Cocovida and friends.

Some friends of ours paid us a visit yesterday. So here they are, pictured on this blog and almost famous.

And now for something completely different.

Something a little bit lighter, to follow my rant on fair trade.

Our son Eric loves to sing with passion. Here he is, putting his heart and soul into "Yesterday's dream".

I also promised you the latest smash hit from the amazing Robert (4 chords) Gubantes and The Coconuts. Unfortunately filming is taking a little longer than expected, because we actually have work to do,.....and they keep getting the words wrong.

Here are a few outtakes, cockups and mistakes.