Update for End July 2020

Delays are reducing month on month with production continuing to improve in the Philippines, however, there are the same challenges still limiting overall production volumes, distancing measures in the factories, inconsistent staffing levels and varying supply levels, plus some shipping delays.

Positions are currently filling up quickly for October, November & December, and we are taking 2021 orders already. And we predict that there will continue to be supply issues into 2021

Prices in the market have stabilised at the moment for coconut oil, but the underlying trend does appear to be upwards. With limited supplied for Q3 & Q4 predicted, we estimate that the price will be forced to rise and may get to 2018 levels by the end of the year.

Other News Stories & Updates.

There has been news of the Thai coconut products in the UK and the use of monkeys to pick the nuts; this was picked up by Carrie Symonds the Prime Ministers fiancée, causing a ban from Boots and major UK supermarkets.  Coconut products from the Philippines are NOT picked by monkeys and never have been.

“No Monkey Business here” being our favourite quote.

There is a great article here about production in the Philippines  – https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/07/24/no-primate-laborers-in-phl-coconut-farmers-group-says/

Also, in the news is has been an article about how “coconut oil production threatens five times more species than palm oil”. We investigated the sources of the story and found a lot of inconsistencies in the report and felt it was very misrepresentative. There have been further news stories about the producers of the research and their funding by Palm Oil manufacturers, so take that one with a pinch of salt.

Finally, there have been some early-stage clinical trials in the Philippines of Coconut oil and its use against COVID.  This is the  article from CNN Philippines is here https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/7/21/virgin-coconut-oil-covid-19-research-patients.html

We looked into the details of the claims in an article from the 2^nd March, which you can read in detail here – https://www.tmduche.com/markets/coronavirus-virgin-coconut-oil/ 

To summarise it’s far too early to make any judgements.