Tuesday, January 09, 2007 San Isidro Otop links with int'l manufacturer By Joy Romares-Sevilla
"TABLEA," a chocolate tablet identified as San Isidro town's Otop (one-town, one-product), gets a boost in the world market.
This following a business matching with an international manufacturer of organic and wild crafted products, which will also provide free technology assistance to growers of organically-produced cacao in the area.
The market matching of the Chocolate de San Isidro Inc. in San Isidro, Davao del Norte, with Essential Living Foods, is considered as one of the milestones of the product for the year 2006.
Cacao farmers in the province will benefit more to the matching since they will be given assistance by the Essential Living Foods on how to produced cacao organically to increase their production.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), on the other hand, through its Upland Development Program (UDP), has also come in to improve the productivity of the cacao growers.
In October last year, DA has expanded a total of 1.30 hectares of cacao plantation in the area to increase volume of production to meet market demands.
At the same time, the Department of Science and Technology has already conducted an assessment to further develop Chocolate de San Isidro while a project proposal in total amount of P800,000 was also submitted to the regional office of the National Economic Development Authority for further development of the industry into cacao nib and fermented cacao seed production.
