According to the Department of Agriculture, the Philippines has 3.5 million hectares of land planted with coconuts, considered as the Tree of Life for its many uses. It is the third most dominant crop in the country, just behind rice and corn. This abundance of supply and the wealth of coconut’s health benefits have inspired physicist Reynaldo Pacheco Jr. to enter into the coconut business when he founded Cocobody, a complete line of head-to-toe coconut-based wellness products.
“For me, it was a simple proposition: people have lived with coconuts for hundreds of years. They lived very healthy lives. They use it as medicine, as cosmetics, so, sabi ko, ‘we just have to create a product that will be easy to use, which modern dwellers can benefit from’,” Reynaldo says.
Sourcing their coconuts from Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, Cocobody started producing its line of soap, lip balm, face balm, massage oil, body scrub, and Cocolicious, its line of virgin coconut oil, in 2005. Amid initial skepticism even from his own close circle, Reynaldo continued to believe in his products and the benefits of the coconut.
“Personal wellness became a passion when I learned that coconut, a natural product, can do a lot of things. I have also always advocated for what we can produce in the Philippines,” Reynaldo shares.
In 2008, Cocobody entered into a partnership with Kultura, which has been pivotal in the brand’s direction. Aside from giving them access to a wider market, this partnership also provided their brand input. Reynaldo says that Kultura’s management advised them to keep their products affordable and at high quality.
“SM and Kultura helped us mature, develop better packaging, better products, better brand image – always towards improving, but without sacrificing affordability and quality,” Reynaldo says.
Cocobody, Cocolicious and other products are available at Kultura located in SM Malls. You may also order Cocobody, Cocolicious and other uniquely Filipino items at www.kulturafilipino.com.
For more than 60 years, SM, and its affiliate brands like Kultura, has been home to thousands of MSMEs. As SM grew, so did its MSME partners. From those years of partnership, SM and MSMEs once again stand together to build back stronger.
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