A virgin coconut oil (VCO) business born out of a mother’s love for her sick son, is thriving in this province.

Dr. Clarissa Esmenos, the owner of Ariana Coco Products, said her son was suffering from skin asthma back in 2012, and their regular visit to a hospital in Iloilo City was draining their family’s income.

Esmenos is a dentist while her husband is an engineer.

“During one of our visits to his doctor, a lady who was sitting beside me and waiting also for her medical check-up recommended that I try to rub VCO on the skin of my son,” she said in an interview on Friday.

She seriously took what the lady had told her that when she got home in Barangay Olaga, she asked her husband to get coconuts in their backyard and experimented on how to make VCO.

“I researched how to make VCO so that I could apply it on the skin of my son,” she said.

She found the VCO effective in treating her son’s skin asthma until she made more batches of the oil and gave those to their relatives.

“I was surprised that those I had given the VCO(to) kept coming back inquiring if they could still ask for more,” Esmenos said.

In November 2013, upon the invitation of the Department of Trade and Industry, she joined a trade fair at a mall in Antique bringing with her only 15 bottles of VCO to see if they would sell.

To her surprise, it was sold out.

“As of now, we already have our production center and we are selling in outlets even in Iloilo city and Boracay island,” she said of the business named after her daughter.

She has nine employees assisting her in the VCO production, adding she sources her coconuts from farmers in different towns of Antique.

Admitting that the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) had slowed down her business, especially with the closure of Boracay island, though she is still receiving orders.

“Just today, I already received a text message for an order from our outlet in Boracay,” she said.

Esmenos said she is making a five-digit income per month, but what makes her happy is the help her company extends to the coconut farmers.

“Sometimes, the farmers would just leave in front of our house their sacks of coconut and return for the payment in the afternoon,” she said.

She said because of the VCO, her son’s skin allergy had healed, her daughter is realizing her long-time dream to become a doctor and they have now a business to call their own. (PNA)