Plantsville Health Products is a woman-led social enterprise focused on conservation, livelihood, health, and climate change. The organization works to protect and promote the endangered Philippine cinnamon tree by planting and harvesting it to absorb carbon and mitigate climate change effects. The cinnamon bark and leaves are processed into health and wellness products, including cinnamon coco sugar, essential oil, essential water, massage oil, sleep aromatic water, natural mouthwash, moisturizing sanitizers, and ginger cinnamon liniment.
The enterprise partners with smallholder farmers, including young and old community members, to cultivate cinnamon sustainably. Their business model integrates the entire value chain from fundraising and planting to harvesting, processing, and selling products. Additionally, in partnership with Vison Technologies, they developed a prototype of a mobile-based application, “CiHt,” for tree monitoring, which helps track the growth of cinnamon trees and provides transparency to carbon offset donors.
Since its founding in 2018, Plantsville Health has partnered with farmers and the Negros Occidental Provincial Environmental Management Office (PEMO) to save 50 remaining Philippine cinnamon mother trees and plant 14,000 cinnamon seedlings with 350 smallholder farmers. The company has also signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Province of Negros Occidental to expand the model from its pilot site to 31 towns and cities, impacting at least 11,000 farmers.
Plantsville Health has raised awareness about Philippine cinnamon, reaching over a million Filipinos through social media and media partnerships. The company operates a facility, provided by the Technological University of the Philippines Visayas (TUPV), with a registration at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in both the Philippines and the United States, supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), with a monthly production capacity of 2 tons of cinnamon coco sugar, 600 liters of essential water, and 6 liters of essential oil. It sells its products in small quantities in both the Philippines and the United States. Founder November Canieso-Yeo has been granted a Utility Model patent for the essential oil made from Philippine cinnamon and their other products.
November Canieso-Yeo, Founder of Plantsville, and Sweet Rose Tanoy, Operations Officer,
with FSSI Partnership Manager Ednie Luceno-Casiller at Plantsville Health
Photo courtesy of Plantsville Health
To expand its reach and increase production capacity, Plantsville Health seeks additional working capital for manufacturing and trading its Philippine cinnamon products. With this funding, the company expects to stock up more inventory, participate in more projects, and engage in initiatives such as delivering gift sets to institutional buyers, including its recent collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD). PCIEERD had previously funded Plantsville Health under the program, Women Helping Women Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWise). Additionally, Plantsville Health aims to join more trade fairs and fora and serve international markets through its Amazon store. The Foundation for a Sustainable Society (FSSI) will support Plantsville Health in these efforts, helping the enterprise scale its operations and reach a broader customer base.
For more information, visit Plantsville Health Products’ official website and online store.
