Healthy Sweets was established in 2009 as a family-owned social enterprise producing fair trade and certified organic coconut sugar. It was created as a response to the fluctuating price of copra and whole nuts and to respond to the challenge of making small farming a profitable venture. The social enterprise provided green jobs to small farmers through organic coconut farm production and coconut sugar processing. From this venture, our coconut tappers were able to increase their income two-fold and even three-fold.
We also employed women in the processing of coconut sugar that enabled them to earn an income of their own. Coconut farmers in the neighboring farms also sell their coconut sap to Healthy Sweets. Income derived from sap production is two to three times higher than copra production. With this business venture, the social enterprise helps uplift the living condition of coconut farmers who are considered as among the poorest of the poor in the Philippines.
We started with manual processing of coconut sugar, it was too laborious for women, then we look for appropriate tools and equipment to address this problem. Now, our production process is semi-mechanized, it is a big boost in maintaining the premium quality of our products and in making our processing method women-friendly. In 2011 Healthy Sweets started producing cocosugar based candies and teas to diversify its products.
Moreover, from a single proprietorship business, it was transformed into a Corporation in 2016.
Vision, Mission, and Goals
Healthy Sweets envisions a healthy and vibrant society where people live in harmony with nature and are nourished with organically produced coco-based products. Our mission is to produce healthy and organic coco- based food products for local and international market while contributing to the development of sustainable and ecologically-balanced communities in the Southeastern part of Mindanao. Our goals: a) Increased the number of coconut farmers employed as tappers and women employed as processors earning a monthly income above the mandated minimum wage. b) Increased the size of the coconut farms certified as organic in Southeastern Mindanao. c) Increased the production volume of Healthy Sweets and its share in the local and export market.