In May 1999 in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, Bansalan Coconut Farmers and Workers Multipurpose Cooperative (BCMC) was organized by and for the coconut farmers and workers with its membership coming from the nearby municipalities in Davao del Sur. In its 24 years of operation, the cooperative has grown from a single-purpose marketing cooperative that involved in buying and selling of copra into a multipurpose cooperative offering various services such as buying and selling of copra, charcoal and cacao, savings and credit services, and consumer store operation.
The Cooperative Development Agency (CDA) facilitated the implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) through financial assistance worth Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP 250,000.00) per qualified cooperative and it is up to the cooperative as to which part of the operation will the fund be used. BCMC utilized the fund to reinforce the consumer store with a focus on the sales of industrial salt, plastic, and steel drums and adding the wholesale and retail of coconut oil. BCMC has always sold industrial salt to the farmer-members to encourage care for the coconut trees and increase yield every harvest. The plastic drum was requested by the farmer – members while the steel drum was primarily used for charcoal processing. As for the coconut oil retail and wholesale, the key officers have always envisioned promoting and selling coconut oil as an alternative cooking oil because of the potential health benefits that coconut oil can give, thereby championing a healthy lifestyle for the members.
The BCMC received the fund last February 2023 and immediately worked on preparing facilities to store coconut oil by buying four (4) pieces of IBC tanks each capable of storing up to 1 ton of coconut oil and constructing better storage facilities for the industrial salt. After which 250 sacks of industrial salt, 100 pieces of steel drum, 50 pieces of plastic drum, and 1,900 kilos of coconut oil were initially purchased for sale in the consumer store of the cooperative. Since then, the cooperative has purchased an additional 1,000 sacks of industrial salt, 100 steel drums, and 1,900 kilos of coconut oil purchased as of the end of August 2023.
Months after the fund was granted to BCMC, the cooperative has fully utilized the fund and has established the wholesale and retail of coconut oil which was a long overdue goal of the cooperative. The cooperative also has managed to promote to its farmer-members the use of a healthier option which is coconut oil. With the much-needed support of the grant, BCMC has managed to expand its services to the member farmers while staying true to its mission of providing quality and affordable products and services geared towards the upliftment, betterment, and protection of the lives of the coconut farmers and workers.
