Important Update 22nd November 2024

This week, we received some news from First Grade

M&S Shortfall from Indonesia  

Pulau Sambu Guntung, a significant producer in Sri Lanka of over 150,000 tonnes of coconut products annually, has stopped pursuing the investments required to meet M&S compliance for their low-fat desiccated coconut and coconut milk powder, leading to their removal from the A-list.

Franklin Baker is closing in December.

Franklin Baker will cease operations in the Philippines by December 2024, because its owner, Andorra Investments, has been unable to find a buyer for the business.

TM Duché & Sons Response 

We have not been able to independently verify this in local Philippine news – the only news we have found to date was the temporary closure of the Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur plant.

“A three-year contractual worker received a message about the temporary closure of the Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur plant of Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines, she initially assumed it would only last a few days or, at most, a few weeks. 

But after nearly two months, almost 3,200 other contractual workers remain in limbo, left in a “floating status” while waiting for the resumption of the plant’s operations.”

https://phkule.org/article/1345/contractual-davao-coco-workers-in-limbo-amid-plant-shutdown

We do know that many of these workers have moved to other plants, including Primex’s plant in Davao. This means the plant can currently run at a much higher production level and has a larger supply of coconuts from farmers who cannot sell them to Franklin Baker.

What This Means Moving into 2025 

There will be a significant shortfall of M&S compliant supply in Q1, with no way of covering this with current available contacts in the short term.

It is unknown whether the Franklin Baker plants will be sold or whether anyone is interested in buying them.

In the past 12 months, Franklin Baker exported 2,500 Metric tonnes kilos of desiccated coconut.

Other producers may be able to fill some of this shortfall – but not all, so supplies will be restricted for at least Q1 and Q2 2025. This will no doubt push up the prices of any unsold materials.

At the moment, TM Duché & Sons has some availability for Q1 and Q2, but this is likely to be sold in the next couple of weeks.

Please get in contact with us.