THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched a P1.89-million Shared Service Facility (SSF) in Tuburan, Cebu, aimed at strengthening the local cacao value chain, improving farmers’ incomes and expanding opportunities for value-added agribusiness products.
The facility, unveiled on Feb. 27, 2026, by the DTI Cebu Provincial Office, focuses on the integrated post-harvest processing of cacao and the utilization of cacao waste, enabling farmers to convert raw beans into higher-value products.
Located in Barangay 2-Poblacion, Tuburan, the project is implemented in partnership with the First Consolidated Cooperative Along Tañon Seaboards (FCCT), a large cooperative operating across Cebu and Negros Islands.
In a statement, the DTI said the facility directly benefits around 400 cacao farmers who are members of FCCT by providing access to centralized processing equipment and technologies that allow them to move up the value chain.
The SSF is equipped with machinery for roasting, cracking, grinding, tempering, pressing and milling cacao beans, enabling the production of products such as tablea, dark and milk chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa butter. The facility also includes equipment that converts cacao waste into charcoal briquettes, supporting a zero-waste production model.
FCCT chairman Mardonio L. Benting said the facility provides farmers with an assured market while expanding income opportunities through value-added processing.
“This initiative provides our farmers with an assured market and the capacity to move up the value chain,” Benting said. “By integrating post-harvest processing and waste utilization, we are increasing income opportunities while strengthening sustainable agriculture.”
FCCT chief executive officer Clavel Aves said the facility strengthens the cooperative’s supply chain by enabling farmers to process and market cacao products locally and internationally.
“This Shared Service Facility upgrades the competitiveness of our cacao farmers,” Aves said. “By equipping cooperatives with processing capabilities and linking them to markets, we ensure that more value remains within the community.”
Raquel Choa, founder of Cebu-based chocolate company The Chocolate Chamber, said the project comes as Cebu-made chocolate gains increasing recognition in international markets such as Europe and the United States.
“With FCCT already developing a wider international market, this facility is timely,” Choa said, noting that improved processing capacity will help producers meet rising global demand while maintaining quality standards.
DTI-Cebu OIC Provincial Director Marivic Aguilar said the long-term success of the facility will depend on effective management and collaboration among stakeholders.
“An SSF works only when people make it work,” Aguilar said. “This facility belongs to the farmers and MSMEs it serves, and we are confident that FCCT’s leadership will turn this investment into lasting benefits for the community.”
The project is expected to generate multiplier effects across the cacao sector, including increased demand for planting materials, organic fertilizers and fermented dried cacao beans.
The facility operates within a 100-square-meter processing plant for cacao products and a separate 100-square-meter area dedicated to cacao waste briquette production.
With the establishment of the SSF, Tuburan is positioning itself as an emerging hub for cacao-based enterprises, supporting rural industrialization and expanding economic activity in Cebu’s agribusiness sector. / KOC