ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Villafuerte smells great opportunity for Camarines Sur in fragrance industry

Villafuerte smells great opportunity for Camarines Sur in fragrance industry

Published Jan 10, 2024 01:21 am

At A Glance

  • Camarines Sur 2nd district Re LRay Villafuerte says the province is banking on a joint venture (JV) with pharmaceutical company Iba Botanicals in its goal to gain a foothold in the $35-billion global flavor and fragrance (F&F) industry. 

Cong LRay 'cautiously optimistic' with COP27 pledge for climate-vulnerable countriesCamarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camarines Sur 2nd district Re LRay Villafuerte says the province is banking on a joint venture (JV) with pharmaceutical company Iba Botanicals in its goal to gain a foothold in the $35-billion global flavor and fragrance (F&F) industry. 

Rep. Villafuerte, in a statement Tuesday, Jan. 9, says the JV centers on large-scale production of vetiver oil, which is a key ingredient in the making of perfumes, aromatic oils, creams, and soaps along with other personal care (PC) products that are widely in demand across the globe. 

The provincial government under Governor Vincenzo Renato “Luigi” Villafuerte had partnered with Iba Botanicals in developing a 7,500-hectare (ha) farmland for vetiver oil production. 

According to Rep. Villafuerte, Camarines Sur is "transforming and developing ordinary rural agricultural land into big employment generators, source of low-cost yet high-value farm goods, and a mega-dollar earner". 

The former deputy speaker say the JV covers the development of the world’s largest integrated essential oils facility based on a locally available variety of vetiver grass—a bunchgrass that has multifunctional uses. 

Equipped with dedicated steam distillation facilities, the local project is expected to start full-scale harvest and commercial operation in the first quarter of 2025. 

Governor Villafuerte said that total investments in the plantation, distillery, and associated infrastructure will exceed P500 million for the vetiver project. It will also create some 800 new jobs. 

Known locally as “moras,” vetiver (chrysopogon or vetiveria zizanoides) is actually native to India, but it has been propagated in a number of countries for use in essential oil production as well as for soil remediation, erosion control, and water treatment. 

The drought-resistant, non-invasive vetiver was introduced to the Philippines some 30 years ago, but was initially used only for erosion control and soil stability, among other bio-engineering uses. 

Iba Botanicals' integrated operations ensure consistent production practices and oil volumes that have translated into world-class quality products which, with competitive pricing, have created a robust demand from buyers all over the world.  

The top exporters of vetiver oil are India with 2,572 shipments, followed by France with 1,823; and the Netherlands, with 1,418 shipments. 

The global vetiver oil market demand was estimated at 408.8 tons in 2019.

 

Related Tags

Fragrance Camarines Sur vetiver lray villafuerte
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.