Philippine-listed food manufacturer Century Pacific Food, Inc. (CNPF) has committed to donating one million coconut seedlings to smallholder farmers across the Philippines over the next five years, as part of efforts to replace aging coconut trees and improve farm productivity.

The company announced the initiative in a statement on Tuesday. The commitment will be carried out through its Coco Mama brand under the Save Our Coconuts program, implemented in partnership with impact organization HOPE.

Vita Coco, one of CNPF's longtime export customers, has separately pledged another one million coconut seedlings, bringing the combined commitment between the two companies to two million.

CNPF Emerging Brands General Manager Bryan Lingan said the initiative aims to address declining coconut yields and the limited resources available to smallholder farmers. The replanting push speaks to a structural challenge in coconut farming: trees become less productive as they age, and smallholders often lack the resources to replace them on their own.

“By donating and planting 1 million quality seedlings, we hope to build a more resilient coconut supply chain where farming communities, the environment, and the business can mutually benefit and thrive,” he said.

The latest pledge marks CNPF's second commitment to provide one million coconut seedlings. In 2022, the company partnered with GCash and HOPE to donate and plant one million seedlings in support of the local coconut industry and farmers' livelihoods.

Under the new program, Coco Mama will also work with HOPE to provide farmer education and improve smallholder farmers' access to markets. How those components are delivered alongside the planting will be one marker of the program's progress over its five-year run.

HOPE Managing Director Ilusion Farias said the organization would continue its partnership with CNPF to support smallholder coconut farmers.

“From CNPF's first million and now onto the next million trees, what keeps us going are the smallholder farmers whose lives we get to touch,” Ms. Farias said.

Vita Coco's separate commitment falls under its Seedlings for Sustainability program, which aims to distribute and plant up to 10 million coconut trees worldwide by 2030.

CNPF launched Coco Mama in 2019 as part of its entry into the packaged coconut cream market. The company's consumer brands include Century Tuna, Argentina, 555, Ligo, and Birch Tree. It also supplies private-label tuna and coconut products to export markets — a footprint that makes coconut both a branded category and an export line for CNPF, tying the replanting pledge directly to the raw-material supply behind those businesses.

Shares in CNPF fell by 2.42% to close at P30.30 apiece on Tuesday. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno