TARLAC CITY (PIA) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Tarlac conducted skills training on dairy processing for 24 members of the Abagon Compact Farm and Seed Growers Primary Multipurpose Cooperative.
While seed-grade rice remains the cooperative’s core product, it diversified its operations in 2023 after receiving 250 goats from the World Bank’s Rural Development Program.
To help the group maximize the livelihood potential of the grant, DTI organized the training under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Resource speaker Danilo Gacusan taught the participants how to produce mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, condensed milk, and pastillas de leche.
He also discussed topics such as basic food safety and product costing and pricing.
DTI Trade-Industry Development Specialist Paolo Manese conveyed optimism about the cooperative’s future in dairy processing.
“The group has been planning to manufacture dairy products, and upon seeing their good track record as an organization, we are confident that this upcoming business venture will prosper in the years to come,” he affirmed.
For his part, cooperative member Sol Gonzales expressed gratitude for the training and shared their aspirations for the future.
“We would like to thank DTI CARP for the opportunity to attend such training. We are aiming to produce quality goat’s milk and become the biggest producer in Tarlac,” he said.
To further support the group, DTI plans to showcase its products at the Regional CARP Trade Fair in the last quarter of the year. (CLJD/MAECR, PIA Region 3-Tarlac)
