Indonesian Desiccated Coconut has gradually been encroaching on premium customers’ buying decisions. Major food manufacturers in UK and also Europe thus far had a preference for Philippines coconut mainly because there were more GFSI accredited mills there.
However, the price differential between Philippines and Indonesia have always been significant. Historically, Philippines DC prices have enjoyed a premium of anywhere between $ 250 – $ 400 per metric ton over Indonesian material. This has affected European stock holder sales to all but a few end users who prefer to list a handful of Philippines mills only.
In recent times, more Indonesian mills have achieved GFSI accreditation and are now cashing in on the price advantage. Having said that buyers need to be careful about buying simply on the basis of the Indonesia label. Most mills in Indonesia, barring a handful, do not have GFSI accreditation. Nevertheless, some of these non-accredited mills have an integrated production process in the sense that the kernel extraction is done under factory supervision in the mill. Apart from this there are many DC exporters offering attractive prices well below the market. Buyers need to be aware of this category of products for high incidence of pathogens, non-standard cuts, lack of metal detection etc.
Philippines continue to offer more organic product, in addition to conventional and also have one or two companies offering speciality and fancy grades such as chips.
Edible Solutions offers DC from both Indonesia and the Philippines and Speciality Coconut from Sri Lanka.