Yap pushes chocolate from Chocolate Hills

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  —— The town of Carmen in Bohol will soon be known not only for the Chocolate Hills—the cluster of around 1,700 hills that turn brown like chocolates on summer—but also for the edible chocolate from cacao now planted in the area.

Upon the invitation of Rep. Arthur Yap (3rd district, Bohol), the Dutch company Kennemer Foods International, Inc. (KFII)—a major exporter of cacao—opened a cacao nursery in Brgy. Bicao of Carmen.

KFII president Simon Bakker, Yap, Land Bank of the Philippines lending division head Cecil Clarite and LBP manager Marilou Cardenas joined partner-farmers in the ceremonial planting of cacao stalks in a portion of the nursery where a cacao production project was launched by the Carmen Samahang Nayon Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CSNMPC).

Yap will be providing the cooperative with a P100,000 seed money from his Priority Development Assistance Fund, as he proposed that launching of “Chocolate from Chocolate Hills” as the slogan for the project.

Bakker said their Davao project came first and the Carmen project is the first in the Visayas. KFII came to know Carmen after Yap invited him to explore the town for their expansion. Bakker obliged and, after studies, found Carmen to be suitable for the nursery site and for planting of cacao.

In the partnership scheme, KFII maintains the nursery as the source of the planting materials that the farmers will grow in their lands. They will get the planting materials through a loan with LBP with KFII as their guarantor.

KFII buys all the produce from the cacao plantation of the farmers. KFII, a cacao exporter, supplies the raw materials to large chocolate companies in Europe, United States, Netherlands, and some countries in Asia such as Marsh Delights. The main concept is to produce a Bohol brand of cacao.

The newly-launched nursery in Carmen is already good for 250 hectares with 250,000 mature seedlings at 1,000 seedlings per hectare for commercial planting. “This will generate around P100,000 per hectare per year for the farmers. We provide the seedlings and we have a technology team here, and the farmers buy the seedlings with loan from the LBP,” said Bakker.

Bakker said the farmers can start harvesting on the third year, with small harvest for the first 18 months and larger harvest every six months after. At an average farm size of 1.5 hectares per farmer, the initial batch of 250,000 hectares can involve 200 farmers, he said. The nursery already includes an area for expansion that will house the additional 250,000 seedlings for next batch.  (FREEMAN)