Pili & Pino's story began with the quintessential tree that dots the Philippine countryside: the coconut tree.

Pili & Pino's story began with the quintessential tree that dots the Philippine countryside: the coconut tree.

Social enterprise Pili & Pino’s story began with the quintessential tree that dots the Philippine countryside: the coconut tree.

Vivien Go and Julie Alegrado, Pili & Pino’s founders, had been exploring Agusanor, Butuan City when they encountered coconut farming communities. The pair saw the potential of coco nectar as an ingredient that would introduce the wholesome goodness of Filipino products to the world. The pair decided to make coco nectar and coco sugar the anchor of their product line.

Today, Pili & Pino uses coco nectar and sugar to create its scrumptious offerings: natural jams, preserves, granola, and pancake mixes.

“Our raw materials for coconut nectar and sugar are sourced directly from coconut farmers or tappers (we get these) at a similar price commanded by an exporter international buyer,” shares Go.

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“Coco sugar production -- as with many agricultural products in our country – is cornered by big businesses. Typically, they have exclusive contracts committed to international buyers. It just so happened that we had approached our farmer suppliers when the plant they were supplying their sap to shut down and the farmers were left without a source of income.”

She adds that what little they bought helped turn around the fortunes of the farmers. “We are motivated to increase our volume so we can engage more farmers,” she enthuses. 

 

Sweeter days ahead

Mike Go, Human Nature’s head of Social Enterprise Development Department, emphasizes that the company’s dream goes beyond their network. “We want to strengthen our partner social enterprises’ ability to transition to larger retailers; to show the world that businesses with a heart can flourish.”

Human Nature stores serve as a distribution channel for 12 social enterprise (SE) brands. Brands like Pili & Pino get their sizeable market via Human Nature's 30 branches nationwide and up to 70,000 dealers. In addition, the company provides SEs with opportunities for co-branding, and access to its product development expertise. GKI also offers a mentorship program that helps SEs attain sustainability and scalability.

Pili & Pino’s volumes doubled when Human Nature started carrying their products late in 2014.

“What's amazing is how it all fell into place. The timing was remarkable. We had been making our products out of a little cottage (no rent, free electricity). The owner of the cottage was returning home from abroad, so we had to leave,” relates Go. “In any case, we decided to move to a bigger space as part of plans to grow. We were actually quite worried about not making the rent and staff expense at the new place and thought we had to subsidize it heavily for a few months. Thanks to Human Nature, the place was humming right away.”

Pili & Pino’s fiber-rich goodies, the Mango & Pineapple Granola and Banana & Cacao Granola are sold in Human Nature stores and via the Human Nature site as part of the brand’s growing social enterprise category. 

“We’ve received a great amount of support from Human Nature. They do business with so much integrity and have constantly pushed us towards higher quality goals and customer satisfaction,” she states. “This vetting process is really helping to make our processes stronger. We are still a small operation, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Human Nature community will continue to support our products.”

 

Are you like Vivien, a social entrepreneur looking to grow her business or are you thinking of putting up your social business? Get in touch with Human Nature’s Social Enterprise Development Department via 224-2222 loc 129 to learn how your SE can thrive in 2015!