Dragon fruit soap sales click

CURRIMAO,Ilocos Norte, Dec. 5 – From a curative fruit to wonder soap, the red-scaled dragon fruit continues to bring good business to the community with the production of herbal soap from dragon fruit extracts.

Agnes Asuncion, owner of the Agnes Dragon Fruit Herbal Soap business, began her soap-making venture here in May 2010 with an initial capital of P10,000.

She gets her fruit supply from her own backyard where she planted and cultivated the medicinal fruit for her family’s fruit supply. The fruit became a byword in the province following the success of Refmad Farm in Burgos town, the first dragon fruit plantation in the Ilocos Region.

Asuncion also joined skills training and seminars in soap-making that the Department of Trade and Industry and the Mariano Marcos State University provided for communities. Her initial customers were her neighbors who attested to her soap’s healing components.

“I was encouraged to open a business because of the increasing demand from customers who attested to the curative effects of the soap from healed cuts and bruises and as an alternative solution to preventing skin diseases,” she said.

Asuncion now produces and sells dragon fruit soap with olive oil and dragon fruit soap with coconut oil.

She sought further help from the Department of Science and Technology for process and label improvement.

Through the DOST’s intervention, Asuncion hopes to acquire the right equipment and facilities such as heavy duty blender, soap mixer and flavor mixer for production, and improve her product’s label and packaging.

“Ultimately, my goal is to expand my production, encourage more clients and agents, increase our sales and income and create additional employment,” she said. (ANL/CCA-PIA 1 Ilocos Norte)