Viviendo Philippines: Making VCO the healthy solution

Before Philippine virgin coconut oil (VCO) became infamous for its healing and replenishing effects, the country’s coconut oil underwent a series of studies and scrutiny. In a previous finding, coconut oil was reported to cause high cholesterol and heart abnormalities. These reports have somehow affected the country’s economy because coconut was among our major exports.

However in 1983, a group of scientists at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB) was determined to overshadow the negative reports on coconut oil. Believing that coconut oil is good for the health, the group requested Paul Mamangun to lead a research that would reveal to the public the healthy benefits of the coconut oil.

Eventually, the doubts on the coconut oil have been eliminated after Paul’s daughter, Ana Maria, conducted
an experiment on coconut oil during her elementary years. Introducing the ANH (A No-Heat) process, the oil’s healthy properties are retained thus the development of the virgin coconut oil.

Ana’s experiment motivated Paul to further study and research on ANH-VCO. In their successful research, the Mamanguns share their knowledge on VCO to colleagues. It also gave him and his wife, Tess, an idea to establish Viviendo, a company that would launch VCO as a healthy alternative.


Passion and patience – the perfect mix to success

The key to Viviendo’s success is passion and patience. The Mamanguns have dealt with the hard times in terms of financial, research, and development of new products. But through this, it is their advocacy for VCO as the healthy alternative drives them to carry on with the business.

Patience, likewise, is another factor. The development of new ANH-VCO products usually takes years to accomplish. Viviendo wants to give consumers the best VCO product there is in the market. According to Tess, it is about giving your customers the truth about your product makes them a reliable manufacturer of VCO.

“Well for me is that you have to have passion, patience, and you’ve got to be truthful to what you’re giving to your clients… Hindi naman ito something na bibiglain mo e. We do not believe in the idea na kailangan mong I-mechanized ang pag-produce ng VCO para marami kang ma-produce. Sa amin kasi we would want to handcraft it lahat kaya we have to have patience and the art for it (This is not something that you instantly produce because we don’t believe in mechanizing VCO just to produce more. We would want to manually produce VCO that’s why our people should have a lot of patience and the art for it),” Tess adds.

This work attitude is also imparted to the employees of Viviendo. Sharing the company’s vision, Viviendo employees have learned the advocacy of VCO thus they are capable of spreading the good new that VCO brings.


Viviendo in the world market

VCO does not only create a buzz here in the local market. But it is also the latest craze among health and wellness enthusiasts all over the world. And with the popularity of VCO, Viviendo does not stop on developing new products that would appeal to the mainstream market.

With the company’s overwhelming success in China, Viviendo found a new niche market in the US. Their participation in the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, California, USA helped Viviendo promote the Philippine VCO and its benefits. This also led Paul to go back to research and develop new personal care products that would still use VCO as the essential component. Among Viviendo’s new products are: ANH-VCO lipsticks, lip balms, body balms, and facial creams. Viviendo now also has a food product line. Still VCO-based, they now have coconut tea, coconut honey, Kalamete coconut jam, and coconut sugar that have all undergone the ANH process.

Viviendo re-brands itself when they sell their products in the international market. Yet, consumers are assured of the best quality ANH-VCO products. The company sells the Viviendo line in selected retail stores like Rustans and Shopwise. However, the Mamanguns are focused more on exporting their new product line because of the growing demand for natural products.

Aside from the positive work attitude and knowledge on the products, Viviendo also credits their success to government and non-government organizations who supported them in promoting VCO to the export market. Among them was the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). Through their trade event, BIO-Search, a Philippine Health and Wellness Show, Viviendo promoted not only their product but also VCO, in general, to the export industry. CITEM’s support catapulted the Philippines as a major producer of VCO in the world. It also gave small and medium entrepreneurs, like Viviendo, to venture out to other by-products so as to show the flexibility of the virgin coconut oil.

“We attribute our success, in a way, sa support ng CITEM of all government agencies. It was CITEM and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) who helped us. So kung ano kami ngayon, it was through CITEM for the support it has given to us (Whatever we have achieved today, it was through CITEM for the support it has given to us),” Tess shares.

Advocating wellness the natural way

Upon reaping the success of their research on VCO more than 2 decades ago, Viviendo was able to explore the other benefits of the product. VCO became more than just a dietary supplement. Viviendo introduced to the market a line of personal care, hair care, and cosmetics products that use VCO as the main ingredient.

Just like the VCO as a dietary supplement, the other by-products also have the essential properties that replenish the skin and hair. In fact, the effects are a lot faster than any commercial brands.

“Nakita namin that VCO is also good for the skin and hair. At immediate ang effect! When we joined a trade fair in China, nakita namin ‘yung mga Chinese na after nilang ipahid ang lotion sa skin after a few minutes ang ganda ng effect sa skin nila (We realized that VCO is also good for the skin and hair. The results are immediate! When we joined a trade fair in China, we noticed that after the Chinese rubbed the lotion onto their skin in a few minutes the effect on their skin was really good),” Tess shares.

With these overwhelming results, Viviendo is determined to do more research and development on VCO for new product lines. Through these natural-made products, consumers are given the option to live the healthy way.


For more information on Viviendo Philippines’ products log on to: www.coconuthaven.com.