PalCon Dairy Cooperative

Milk production in the Philippines is dominated by the dairy cooperatives. In the Southern Tagalog region, these cooperatives contribute roughly around 75% of cow’s milk production in the area. While there are already a number of medium scale dairy farms (50-500 cattle) present in the region, the sheer number of dairy cooperatives makes them the focus of efforts towards improvements in both quantity and quality. The PalCon Dairy Multi-purpose Cooperative is one such cooperative.

PalCon’s operation is primarily located in barangays Concepcion Palasan and Concepcion 1 in Sariaya, Quezon (126Km South of Manila). Its name is a combination of the first three letters of the former barangay’s name (Concepcion Palasan). The story goes that many objected to the name as it sounds like a lewd Tagalog word. So they decided to rearrange it to PalCon.

Currently, PalCon contributes the bulk of milk processed by its federation, the Katipunan ng mga Kooperatibang Maggagatas, Ink. (KKMI), making it the largest smallhold milk producing cooperative in the country (unconfirmed). The centralized milk collection system boasts of a 1,000 liter capacity chilling tank donated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Milk is collected delivered to the KKMI dairy plant in Calauan, Laguna (about 53Km away) every morning. There is a premium price scheme for milk providing the incentive for producing good quality milk.

The cooperative also have a store that offers a range of products, from cattle feed to rice and other day-to-day needs you can find in a variety store in the Philippines. It so happens that the fastest selling commodity you can buy from the store is the lambanog (coconut liquor, high alcohol content). Cooperative members can get their daily goods on credit, which the bookkeeper will simply deduct from the milk payroll.

Since there is a great requirement for fresh cow’s milk, the cooperative is now experiencing resurgence with new members coming in and investing heavily. Many have observed that most of the new members have already overtaken several old members in terms of number of dairy animals, positions taken in the cooperative (there are two members of the board of directors that are considered new members), and investments both in land and animals.