DAVAO CITY—Another city in Davao del Norte will try its mettle in exporting chocolate using its abundant local cacao as raw material.
The cacao farmers’ co-operative, the Rehoboth Agriculture Cooperative (RACO) would fully utilize its chocolate processing facility in Panabo City to produce dark chocolate products for export, the city information office said.
Rehoboth owner, Lolita Pinoon said, “We are supporting the industry of cacao in Panabo City and we plan to export it to the United States.” She said they already tapped a consultant for the export venture.
The co-operative’s export plan came after it inaugurated the processing plant that it accessed from the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Project. The PRDP awarded the enterprise project with P20 million grant through the Davao Del Norte provincial government.
RACO is based in Barangay San Francisco, Arguelles Street in Panabo City, which produces the fermented product locally known has “tablea” from the many cacao farms around the city.
With the processing plant, the co-operative would now be able to upgrade its production, from tableu to dark chocolate. It has now produced several by-products of dark chocolate. Local consumers may buy it from the co-operative at P150 per box at 150 grams. Local consumers may avail of discounts if they buy it at bigger quantity
Local consumers may visit the RACO Chocolate facility or contact them through 0991-202-6852 and look for Pinoon.