About FreeCoconutRecipes.com
FreeCoconutRecipes.com is the Coconut Recipe collection and blog of Tropical Traditions. Most of the recipes here were submitted by customers of Tropical Traditions (now Healthy Traditions), who developed and tested them in their own kitchens.
The founder of Tropical Traditions is Brian Shilhavy.
Brian W. Shilhavy, BA, MA
Brian earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible/Greek from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and his Master of Arts degree in linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. He is currently the CEO of Tropical Traditions, Inc.
How We Discovered Virgin Coconut Oil
Tropical Traditions began exporting Virgin Coconut Oil from the Philippines to the US in 2001.
At that time, there were only one or two other companies in the US even selling coconut oil, and they were highly refined coconut oils, mostly used for cosmetics and skin care products.
The prevailing belief was that coconut oil was dangerous to consume as an edible oil, due to its high saturated fat content.
But having lived in the Philippines for several years, I was forced to challenge my own thinking that coconut oil was bad, seeing first hand how the older generations in rural areas consumed home-made coconut oil from fresh coconuts, and thriving from a high-fat diet where coconut oil was their main dietary oil.
We started making our own coconut oil by hand, the traditional way, and consuming it as a family. We decided to make this product available to the US market. Distinguishing this hand-made traditional coconut oil from the refined coconut oils mass produced by machine, we called it “Virgin Coconut Oil.”
We were the first ones to export Virgin Coconut Oil from the Philippines to the US market. The success overwhelmed us.
Today, more than 18 years later, there are other companies now selling coconut oil again in the US, most of them mass-produced by machines.
But we are committed to time-honored traditional practices that have produced natural coconut oils for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Our Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is still made by hand by small-scale family producers in the Philippines.
These producers have learned a lot of things over the years, since most of them have been producing this oil for over 18 years now.
They have learned how to pick out the best coconuts from each harvest that produce the best quality oil.
Independent laboratory analysis shows this to be one of the highest quality coconut oils on the market, having the highest levels of antioxidants using a wet-milling process.
This hand-made artisinal Virgin Coconut Oil is marketed in the US under the Tropical Traditions Gold Label brand. It meets our strictest standards to earn this designation, and is also now part of our Glyphosate-tested program.
Today when you buy Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, you are buying the highest quality coconut oil we have to offer, and it is still made by hand and benefiting families in the rural areas of the Philippines where the coconuts grow.
We are not aware of any other hand-made coconut oil like it in the market!
Brian Shilhavy, Founder, Tropical Traditions, Inc.
