GIGAQUIT, SURIGAO DEL NORTE — In the coconut-growing barangay of Mahanub, a group of farmers has taken a familiar local ingredient and transformed it into a product that is quietly earning attention beyond the municipality. Coco Yema, produced by the Mahanub Coconut Farmers Producers Cooperative (MACOFACO), represents a small but meaningful shift: farmers moving from selling raw coconuts to creating a finished, branded product with its own identity. It is now available at the Negosyo Center Gigaquit Office.
A Product Rooted in Local Abundance
Coco Yema takes the traditional Filipino yema: a sweet, custard-like confection, and builds it around coconut, the crop that defines Mahanub's agricultural life. The result is a product that tastes distinctly of place, drawing on ingredients that grow within the barangay and labor provided by cooperative members. For a community whose economy has long depended on selling coconuts in their raw form, the shift to processing represents a move up the value chain, one that keeps more of the final price within the hands of the farmers themselves.
The Cooperative Behind the Sweetness
MACOFACO is not a new player in the local agricultural landscape. The cooperative has been among the coconut farmers' groups in Surigao del Norte engaged by the Department of Trade and Industry for product development and market readiness support. In January 2026, DTI turned over product enhancement kits to fifteen coconut entrepreneurs and cooperatives across the province, including MACOFACO, to improve packaging materials and product labels. The initiative aimed to strengthen the competitiveness of coconut-based enterprises by enhancing presentation, branding, and access to wider markets.
Support Systems That Make Small Brands Possible
The cooperative's emergence as a producer of a consumer product reflects the broader support architecture available to coconut-based MSMEs in Caraga. The Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan, mandated under Republic Act 11524, provides a framework for modernizing the industry and improving the lives of coconut farmers. The 2026 Caraga Coconut Festival, held in May at Robinsons Place Butuan, gave cooperatives and entrepreneurs a platform to showcase products and innovations under the theme "Niyog 360: One Coconut, Endless Opportunities". For MACOFACO, participation in such initiatives is part of the work of turning a local recipe into a viable enterprise.
A Small Product with a Larger Message
Coco Yema is not a mass-market brand, and it does not pretend to be. It is a product made by farmers, sold through a local Negosyo Center, and rooted in a community that has learned to see its coconut trees not just as a crop but as a resource for creativity and livelihood. For consumers, choosing Coco Yema is a small act with a direct impact: it sustains a cooperative, supports households in Mahanub, and keeps value circulating within Gigaquit. It is, in the simplest sense, a sweet product with a serious purpose.
