My Blog

My name is Dan Etherington and I would like to share with you how a few years ago the direction of my life changed radically after an experience in Africa. In 1992 a village soap maker in Mozambique appealed to a visiting consultancy team to come up with a method of producing oil directly from his community’s coconuts. As an Agricultural Economist at the Australian National University in Canberra and the team leader, I could not forget the plea. If such a technology existed or could be developed, it could radically transform the lives of poverty-stricken coconut farmers around the world. 

Later that year, I learnt that the people of a remote Tuvalu island in the centre of the south Pacific had long ago discovered how to cold-press coconut oil directly from sun-dried shredded coconut. However the copra trade and cheap imported vegetable oils had ‘killed’ this local technology.
Recognising its economic potential
for the islanders, I worked in collaboration with the CSIRO and ANU colleagues to develop the fine-weather household technique into an all-weather cottage-industry technology. We call it Direct Micro Expelling™ (DME™). The quality of the oil is stunning.

With the encouragement and backing of some Christian friends, Dan set up Kokonut Pacific Pty Ltd to further refine the technology and take it back to the islands. My coconut odyssey actually began much earlier. The journey has been difficult at times but "breaking chains" can also be exciting and rewarding. Read more

OUR MISSION
The Company’s goal is encapsulated in the motto: Empowering and bringing hope. Kokonut Pacific works to improve the well-being of the rural population of tropical countries through the production of premium grade coconut oil and other coconut products. This objective is being achieved by revitalising the smallholder coconut industry through the use of modern technology and by working in partnership with local communities.
In most situations, people want to work and they have plenty of nuts. Now they have a way of turning those nuts into very pure, natural, virgin oil within one hour of opening a coconut. Kokonut Pacific is working hard with local firms, non-government organisations (NGOs) and Governments to make sure that the right support systems are in place. The capacity of remote communities to produce DME extra virgin coconut oil is often far greater than the local market can absorb. For the dream of regular employment to be realised, other markets have to be found. Because most of the oil has to be exported, this requires organisation for quality control, storage, transport, bulking up and finding buyers. In many cases, these buyers are in other countries so the oil has to be carefully packed and shipped overseas.

Niulife Coconut Oil is born
The Niulife coconut oil brand was established to sell DME Extra Virgin Coconut Oil on behalf of the island producers. Niulife reminds us of the New Life it brings from the Tree of life to impoverished island communities through our Fair Trade model, as well as the New Life it gives to consumers  through the many health benefits of virgin coconut oil - a win/win for all. The name reflects its South Pacific origin (niu, pronounced “new”, means coconut in Polynesian). Your purchase of Niulife products helps us continue our work with rural communities in the South Pacific, and in particular, the Solomon Islands. Each year the production sites are certified organic by NASAA.
Since our web-shop opened, we have diversified into a full range of coconut-related products that help to fund more development work for improving the lot of smallholder coconut farmers. The on-line shop sells a range of  coconut oil, coconut flour, soap, lip balms,  books and gadgets used with coconuts, with oil production and soap making. We have also gathered a remarkable number of testimonies from oil users citing various miracle cures, and even more from pet lovers in our pet section.

Buy our Coconut Oil

Would you like to try some of the islands' produce and related items

Lip Balm, Coconut Flour Starter, Coconut Cures

Coconut Flour, Soap 5 pack, Coconut Oil Starter

See more products here


Visit us on Facebook

About the comments we receive

I am continually encouraged by people's comments that are sent in to me about the islander's products and the amazing coconut. I am listing a few of them below for your perusal :

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

KORA™ Organics by Miranda Kerr

Kokonut Pacific / Niulife is now a featured expert for the KORA™ Organics Blog, hosted by model and author Miranda Kerr. We will be posting regularly on the KORA blog over the coming months.
The benefits of eating it are far reaching which is why Miranda uses it everday.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Organic Insights

"Kokonut Pacific is one of NASAA’s long established operators delivering ethical, sustainable organic produce at its very best..." Read the rest of this feature article about our company in the recent NASAA Organic Insights magazine (pages 6&7). It is a good summary of our work in the Solomon Islands and our "Fair Dinkum Fair Trade" mandate.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

New Inventors

Did you see Dr. Dan on ABC TV’s New Inventors? We were delighted that our founder and inventor of the DME process, Dr. Dan Etherington AM was invited onto one of our favourite TV shows where he demonstrated our press extracting virgin coconut oil. We were very pleased with the coverage. Don’t worry if you didn’t see it, you can watch it online now. This footage has extra scenes not aired on the show. We have had some very positive and encouraging feedback since the show.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Kokonut Pacific team visits the Philippines

Richard and Ian have just returned from a fruitful trip to the Philippines. This included meeting our coconut flour supplier and inspecting their Certified Organic production facilities. It was great seeing the way the company treats its staff after a major restructuring of its operations. and the benefits to the certified organic small-holder farmers. Benefits include free seedlings enabling them to replant ageing coconut trees, scholarships for some of their children and a premium on the cash price they receive for nuts. Richard and Ian were able to secure supplies of S02-free desiccated coconut and have a number of other new products now in the pipeline. They really enjoyed getting to know the locals and were made very welcome everywhere they went.
Richard and Ian on a peddle trike. They visited a coconut consolidator and learnt how they keep track of their certified organic coconuts. They enjoyed meeting some of their workers and were made really welcome.
A well maintained coconut plantation
Richard and Ian all suited up to see the coconuts being sorted and grated. Hygiene is taken very seriously.

A truck load of fresh coconuts

Coconut Seedling Trials

For more photos visit our Facebook Page

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Warehouse goes Carbon Neutral with solar

Coconut oil goes solid at 26°C. This means we use a significant amount of power each year melting oil. As an ethical social enterprise Kokonut Pacific Pty Ltd signed up to the 10-10-10 program last October committing to installing 2 x 10Kw Solar Panels systems on our warehouse roof in Queanbeyan. We are pleased to announce that it was switched on at 10:10 am on the 7th April 2011. Learn more about the 10-10-10 program to reduce carbon emissions by 10% in a year at www.350.org - then work together to make it happen.

Monday, April 4, 2011

A Current Affair lifts the lid on coconut oil

Once seen as a villain, coconut oil is charming the health food world. A recent story on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair program has seen a flurry of interest in our Niulife Certified Organic DME Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. In the segment on what coconut oil could do to improve your health, John and Jill Englemann (researchers and authors of "Healthy Slim People Eat Fat") and Mike Foale of the CSIRO, author of The Coconut Odyssey, were interviewed. We have had a long involvement with the work of the Engelmanns, supplying them with our oil for their ground-breaking health trials. ...Watch the A Current Affair video now

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Kokonut Pacific Board Meeting

Last week our staff and board met together to reflect on 2010 and look at the challenges and opportunities for 2011. World prices for coconut products are at record highs. This is a huge challenge for DME oil producers who buy nuts from neighbouring farmers, because many of these farmers are now making copra again.
Communication in the Solomon Islands has been our greatest hurdle. Without phones, email or proper postal services the only way to communicate with remote island villages has been to physically go there – an expensive time-consuming exercise. We are now planning some exciting new developments as Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands (KPSI) takes advantage of the roll-out of mobile phone networks. The Solomons is at least five years behind other countries in getting mobile phones, so this will make a huge difference.
Pictured in the back row from left to right is Ian, our warehouse and production manager, Richard, our marketing manager, Greg, Jono, Harold and Ewan, (Front Row) Chris our webmaster and trainer, Dr Dan our founder & Managing Director and Maureen who looks after the Admin side of the business and keeps us all organised.

Greg and Dr Dan looking at the year ahead.

Relaxing at Ian's after a busy day.

Dan enjoying the coconut water from a fresh young coconut.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Coconut Sugar

Coconut Sugar is back in stock after an initial rush. Use as a replacement for brown sugar in any recipe. It is suitable for baking and makes a great replacement for cane sugar in tea and coffee. When compared to brown sugar, it has twice the iron, four times the magnesium and over 10 times the amount of zinc. It is also a rich source of potassium and contains Vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6. It is preservative free.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Manager visits from the Solomon Islands

Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands’ new Managing Director Bob Pollard visited our warehouse in Queanbeyan for the first time on Saturday. It was great having him visit us and gain a better understanding of how we manage their oil at our end and how it is packaged & distributed in Australia & around the world.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Certified Organic

Australian and International Organic Certifier NASAA is currently inspecting our partner company Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands for their annual inspection. This assures that no chemical sprays or chemical fertilizers have been used and that organic farming is being practiced.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

This wonderful product

I am finding this a wonderful product. It IS the best on the market. My husband spent 12 months (May 2006 to May 2007) in the Solomon Islands and I spent 3 months visiting him. We were very happy to see that your company is assisting the people of the Solomon Islands and that our orders are assisting them also. We are both in our early 60s and are spreading the word about the many benefits of Coconut Oil. At the moment we are both Oil Pulling - our teeth have never been so white! - and we are both eating 3 - 4 tablespoons of the Virgin Coconut Oil a day......as well as applying it to our skins and are seeing numerous beneficial results.
I also purchased the 1 litre container for Canines and am so happy to see the fatty tumors on my 12 year old Staffy X decreasing in size and the terminal tumor on his belly going from a hard round mass to a soft and flattened mass in two weeks! He acts like a dog half his age. We have noticed our two dogs both now have decidedly clearer looking eyes. Both dogs are very alert nowadays and obviously seeing things they could not see previously.
Regards Joan 24/10/2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Family Experiment

I thought that you would be interested in an experiment that our family has just undertaken. We have been using Virgin Coconut Oil for some years but realized that there are now an increasing number of brands available. So we bought three 'fresh' samples (300ml to 500ml each) of VCO on-line. We transferred the oil into jars which we labelled A, B and C. At a family gathering each member of our extended family was asked to rank the three in terms of aroma (smell); flavour (taste); clarity and colour (looks) and, finally, the feel of the VCO on our skins. There was a very clear ranking: NIULIFE was unanimously voted No.1 by everybody on all tests! How about that?! We love your VCO. We are now ordering a 20L pail to share among us. Thank you L.B., Vic 22/06/2010

Follow-up: Thank you for asking me. Yes, I am happy for you to place this testimonial on your web site. One more observation: I have a very sensitive throat, so when any rancid oil reaches it, I have a reaction from it. BUT NOT FROM YOUR COCONUT OIL! It is excellent! We love it! You are welcome to include this in your future comments.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I love your coconut oil!

I love your coconut oil! I have tried a lot of different coconut oils and yours is by far the best tasting. I decided to look at your website after recently buying your oil for the first time and was even more pleased to see about the DME, economic, etc part of K.P. I am a very active 29 year old male. I consume a ridiculously large amount of calories and I like how the MCT's in C.O. fuel my body. I also put a little coconut oil in my dogs food. I know this is such a random e-mail, but I just wanted you to know who is buying your stuff. You got a new customer too! Bryan California

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Her fur is so shiny and glossy

Dear Niulife, My partner and I have been *extremely* glad about the health of our cat since adding coconut oil to her diet. Combined with cod liver oil, the coconut has made her fur so shiny and glossy (with deep rich blacks, and pure whites), that we marvel at it almost daily. Now every cat we see seems dried up and sad by comparison! She's lean, happy and athletic, too... all things that any good pet carer should desire. Kind regards, David

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My weight has dropped and my energy levels risen markedly.

Yes, coconut oil is working extremely well for me - my weight has dropped and my energy levels risen markedly. I am making sure I follow Bruce Fife's recommendation of 3 - 4 tablespoons a day. And I have no problem swallowing a whole tablespoon of oil straight where I need to! I've been recommending it to friends and relatives and am looking forward to trying out the recipes in the cookbook. Catherine – Canberra.

Thriving on Niulife Coconut Oil

Thank you for supplying the single most wonderful product that has come into our lives! We are thriving on Niulife Coconut Oil, and are so very delighted that so many islanders in need of that same level of 'well being' are doing the same.....! Madeleine, NSW