Commerce Ministry Upgrades Coconut Industry Supply Chain
Thailand's Commerce Ministry is strengthening its fragrant coconut industry supply chain through community enterprises that offer farmers fair prices and reduce middlemen compression, with a pilot program launching in Ratchaburi province.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supachai Suthammaphand visited the 'Fragrant Coconut Community Enterprise' cooperative at Coconut Breeze in Damnernsaduak district, Ratchaburi province, to monitor progress and meet with coconut farmers and local operators. The initiative aims to strengthen Thailand's fragrant coconut industry across the entire supply chain, from product collection and marketing to processing, financing, and value creation from all coconut parts, while promoting circular economy principles and zero-waste concepts to stabilize prices and increase farmer income sustainably.
Suthammaphand stated that the field visit aims to monitor concrete and sustainable progress in solving fragrant coconut problems. Following market flooding and price pressure, the Commerce Ministry had assigned the Internal Trade Department to purchase products at market-leading prices and coordinated with private companies including fuel stations and Modern Trade to purchase over 10 million coconuts. However, with daily market supply reaching approximately 2 million coconuts, these measures alone proved insufficient, necessitating comprehensive systemic restructuring to ensure sustainability.
The minister identified another critical issue: the product collection system includes both standard and non-standard operators, leading to farmer price compression. The Commerce Ministry coordinated with parliamentary representatives and the Thai Fragrant Coconut Association to establish community enterprises as quality product collection centers offering fair-price selling alternatives while upgrading quality standards. Ratchaburi province serves as the pilot area, with plans to expand to major producing provinces including Samut Songkhram, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, and other coconut-growing regions.
Additionally, the Commerce Ministry requested cooperation with Kasetsart University to develop management models enabling sustainable long-term community enterprise operations, with knowledge transfer to other areas, particularly Ratchaburi, which is studying feasibility for establishing additional enterprises in Bang Pae district before nationwide expansion to major coconut-producing provinces. The ministry is also intensifying inspections of coconut processing operations and community enterprise purchasing practices.
