I have packs and packs of muscovado sugar in my kitchen. Some of them have been there for months! I buy them in the grocery store on moments I feel like “going organic” or “going green”. But I forget to use them or fail to tell the maids to use them. The distinct flavor that comes with the brown sweetness takes some getting used to, I guess.
But when I talked to muscovado sugar farmers at the Good News Kapihan yesterday, I realized that with all the chemicals used in making sugar come in white granules, we could be slowly putting in toxins in our body or killing the environment with pesticides. (Here’s an excerpt but you can read my entire article here.)
Some revealing figures:
12 – months is the time of gestation for sugarcane, which grows anywhere in the country and is called the “laziest” crop because you essentially forget about it until harvest time.
200 – million pesos is up for grabs for muscovado farmers under the government’s wholesale credit facility for organic farming (applications should be sent to the Development Bank of the Philippines)
8 – percent per annum is the interest rate for this wholesale facility, meaning the funds will be lent to micro-finance institutions who wish to relend to organic farmers or cooperatives who want to set up mills to service a community of muscovado farmers
200 – million, another fund assistance for organic farmers under the Department of Agriculture
0.07 – percent is the share of muscovado to the total agriculture exports of the Philippines
5 – percent, the rate by which the muscovado industry has been growing for the last five to six years
1,000 – euro, the cost now of getting an organic certification (around P65,000). That’s just more or less the cost of flying in an expert, if the certification is done the traditional way.
1.8 – million pesos is the cost of a good food-grade mill needed to service 100 to 500 hectares of sugarcane.
Important names and numbers to remember:
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat
Undersecretary of Department of Agriculture
DA Compound
Elliptical Road, Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines
Tel: (632) 920-1750
*Puyat is setting up a one-stop export shop that will help farmers prepare their products for export
Jerry E. Pacturan
Executive Director
Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc.
#78-B Dr. Lazcano St., Brgy. Laging Handa Quezon City, Philippines
www.pdap.net
A lot of people use “sweetness” to get their way. For muscovado farmers Reynic S. Alo of Negros province and Cornelio E. Castañeda Jr. of Sultan Kudarat, it brought in money, a business that is not only good for the environment but also helps poor farmers in the countryside.
At the Good News Kapihan Wednesday, a monthly forum organized by Good News Pilipinas, Jerry E. Pacturan, executive director of Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. and Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said first movers in muscovado farming are getting the windfall from rising demand for the organic brown sugar in Japan and Europe.
Muscovado is brown, moist sugar that’s commonly associated with gourmet coffee. But it is also used commercially to make banana chips, candies, chocolates and other sweetened products. Filipinos in Mindanao and Visayas are also using it instead of “vetsin” or monosodium glutamate, and also for marinating meat and fish, cooking tuna, baking organic bread and making chocolate, among others.
It’s more expensive than white granulated sugar at P60 to P70 per kilo, but the price does not deter consumers who are starting to get conscious in using consumer goods that do not need harmful chemicals in the production process.
“If you knew how white sugar is made, you will never use it. It has a lot of chemicals,” Reynic S. Alo, an exporter of muscovado cubes, said.
Muscovado and white sugar are both made from sugarcane; the only difference is the production process. If it’s organically produced and cooked without chemicals, it’s the kind that more and more world markets want because people are now more health and environment conscious.
Alo started producing muscovado sugar with a P50,000 seed money, but is now exporting to Japan and growing his business. Farmgate prices in Negros are at P38 to P44 per kilo and P25 per kilo in Antique province. In Metro Manila, retail prices are at P70. Alo sells to a Japanese middleman at P54 per kilo, but in bulk. In Europe, it is sold for P248 per kilo.
Some revealing figures:
12 – months is the time of gestation for sugarcane, which grows anywhere in the country and is called the “laziest” crop because you essentially forget about it until harvest time.
200 – million pesos is up for grabs for muscovado farmers under the government’s wholesale credit facility for organic farming (applications should be sent to the Development Bank of the Philippines)
8 – percent per annum is the interest rate for this wholesale facility, meaning the funds will be lent to micro-finance institutions who wish to relend to organic farmers or cooperatives who want to set up mills to service a community of muscovado farmers
200 – million, another fund assistance for organic farmers under the Department of Agriculture
0.07 – percent is the share of muscovado to the total agriculture exports of the Philippines
5 – percent, the rate by which the muscovado industry has been growing for the last five to six years
1,000 – euro, the cost now of getting an organic certification (around P65,000). That’s just more or less the cost of flying in an expert, if the certification is done the traditional way.
1.8 – million pesos is the cost of a good food-grade mill needed to service 100 to 500 hectares of sugarcane.
Important names and numbers to remember:
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat
Undersecretary of Department of Agriculture
DA Compound
Elliptical Road, Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines
Tel: (632) 920-1750
*Puyat is setting up a one-stop export shop that will help farmers prepare their products for export
Jerry E. Pacturan
Executive Director
Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc.
#78-B Dr. Lazcano St., Brgy. Laging Handa Quezon City, Philippines
www.pdap.net
Heh, I've been using muscovado for my brewed coffee at home for the past month, not out of any "green" thinking or initiative but only because it tastes better on my coffee.
Thing is it's SM Bonus brand. I wonder where SM sources its muscovado from? :)
hi jon, your sm bonus brand comes from sultan kudarat. cool huh? they are the biggest supplier here in metro manila. it was PDAP that linked the small farmers in sultan kudarat with SM. is the quality good?
im a type 2 diabetic can i use it?
Salve,
Yep, it's good. Half a teaspoon is enough to sweeten my morning kape barako. :)
Muscovado packed as SM Bonus is distributed by an NGO distributor in Metro Manila called UMFI. Their supply comes from Sultan Kudarat, Antique and other producers in Luzon.
sugar cane farmers both from the 3 islands of the PI must consolidate and integrate to promote muscovado sugar industry both locally and globally
Hi Im connected with the company that manufactures Muscovado, you might want to try our products. thanks
very briefly sir, can you pls educate me/us on how moscuvados are being produced? thank you!
Hi,
I'm just wondering how to invest in muscovado? Who's the proper person to talk to? I've been using this wonderful product for several years now. Great for my brewed coffee!
valdelgondo, during the press conference, the muscovado farmer i talked to said sugarcane is a lazy crop -- meaning you plant it and go to sleep. after nine months, you harvest. it basically grows by itself. i'm sure there are pests to watch out for, but when i went to bacolod more than a year ago, i hardly saw farmers watching over their fields! preparing the sugarcane for its transformation into muscovado also didn't sound very complicated. they juice the sugarcane and cook the juice to turn them into sugar. i suggest you look at the PDAP website (link in the post above) for more information. regards.
joey, after the press conference, i wanted to have a sugarcane farm too! haha. i suggest you look up the PDAP website (link in post above). they organize farmer groups so it will be a good idea to network with them. you can get all sorts of practical information if you hook up with experienced farmers. im sure they are also in palawan, because sugarcane grows everywhere, they said. good luck!
Con de venecia,
We are interested to buy your muscovado sugar. Can you provide us with 10 m.t. per month?
con de venecia,
We are interested to buy your muscovado sugar. How can I contact you?
Hi,
To anyone interested in buying muscovado sugar, please contact me,
David Lopez
ndavidlopez@hotmail.com
Hola, mi nombre es Sabrina y estube buscando por internet, fue entonces que encontre tu blog, el cual me gusto mucho, el cual es bastante agradable para leer. Regreso la proxima semana para leerte de nuevo. Saludos Sabrina
There is obviously a lot to know about this. Warez
ask ko lang po sana pa'no ba maging supplier ng muscuvado?business kasi ng sister ko yan sa antique.
Muscovado sugar is a type of refined cane sugar also known as Barbados sugar or moist sugar and is mainly used in baked goodies but it is important to watch out for the moisture content. The Muscovado sugar have dietary contents as well because it is minimally refined. Since I find it a bit complicated to experiment it in recipes adding it to my daily coffee works fine for me whenever I run out of sugar free pellets. I also came across a Muscovado Lemongrass Iced Tea recipe on the internet which is too easy to prepare and does not require any hard work, every sip is heavenly and it can be an amazing summer drink.
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Muscovado is one of my favorites. Gingerbread made with it? Shortbread? Butterscotch sauce with a healthy splash of bourbon and a lump of salted Irish butter?
Wigs
At the Good News Kapihan Wednesday, a monthly forum organized by Good News Pilipinas, Jerry E. Pacturan, executive director of Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. and Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said first movers in muscovado farming are getting the windfall from rising demand for the organic brown sugar in Japan and Europe.
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I forget to use them or fail to tell the maids to use them. The distinct flavor that comes with the brown sweetness takes some getting used to, I guess.
Best regards, Katya, CEO of dvd player burner, iscsi protokoll