MANILA, Philippines - Muscovado or raw sugar is an indelible part of the daily routine of Maricel Almojuela-Tolentino, a program officer of the Asian NGO Coalition. Tolentino puts about a teaspoon of muscovado in her coffee or tea and a little bit more to flavor her champorado. She swears that it provides that extra zing to her spaghetti sauce and can be relished alone with rice.

Three-year-old Aya is following in her mother’s footsteps, having picked up the habit of snacking on the dark brown muscovado granules.

Tolentino says she prefers muscovado over refined white sugar because it does more than just sweeten her food or drink. “It is nutritious, environmentally sound and helps small farmers,” she declares, adding that she does not mind paying more to indulge in this habit.

Cotabato City-based NGO worker Danny Ong feels the same way about muscovado, saying that it is the best complement to a cup of invigorating brewed coffee. “You can still feel the granules on your tongue when you stir it into brewed coffee,” he claims. The 45-year-old Ong says he first tasted muscovado in 1992 and has been hooked since. “I’ve also learned that white sugar is not so healthy because of all the chemicals used in refining it,” he adds.

Ong and Tolentino are just two of the growing number of Filipinos who now regularly stock muscovado in their homes and offices.

Muscovado, derived from the Spanish word mascabado and also known as jaggery in India, gur in Bangladesh and tanela in Colombia, is made by boiling the juice extracted from sugar cane until the liquid evaporates. What remains is then dried to make the dark brown muscovado. Unlike white refined sugar, muscovado is processed without the use of chemicals—just natural lime during the boiling process to reduce impurities—making it a healthier alternative to those with a sweet tooth since it retains all the vitamins and minerals of the sugar cane.

Muscovado is also just 80 percent sucrose, unlike white sugar which is almost pure sucrose, that can wreak havoc on the body’s metabolism, according to Dr. Omar Arabia, who owns the Blissful Belly vegetarian restaurant on Xavierville Avenue. Arabia also notes that white sugar can deplete the body of many minerals it needs to remain healthy and productive.

“So many studies have also shown that refined white sugar can accelerate tumor growth. Oncologists seem to agree on this,” adds Arabia, who has been practicing natural medicine for the past 35 years.

Chef David Pardo de Ayala, corporate chef for the Discovery group, likewise uses muscovado, especially during the Christmas season, to make glazes and sauces. Pardo de Ayala says he was inclined to find other uses for muscovado in his renowned dishes served in Discovery Shores Boracay and Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay, as it is healthier than white sugar.

The shifting consumer preference toward healthier alternatives has given new life to the muscovado industry, according to Jerry Pacturan, executive director of the Philippine Development Assistance Program (PDAP).

Muscovado was one of the Philippines’ main export products in the 1800s, but its glory days faded in the 1900s with the coming of the Americans and the introduction of their modern sugar milling facilities to produce their preferred refined white sugar. Thus, muscovado production was pushed back to where it came from—the backyard.

The muscovado industry, however, managed to survive in Antique, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Iloilo, Batangas, Negros Occidental, Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.

The foreign market’s search for healthier food, fortunately, has put the spotlight back on muscovado and export volume has consequently been increasing, particularly to Germany, Netherlands and Japan.

These markets are willing to pay as much as P250 a kilo for muscovado, over four times the selling price in the Philippines of about P60 a kilo. Refined white sugar, on the other hand, costs only P32 a kilo as it has the benefit of economies of scale and an established production and distribution network.

PDAP, through its Promoting Rural Industries and Market Enhancement (PRIME) program, wants the muscovado industry, especially the farmers, to have a taste of the same benefits.

This is why PDAP is involved in making the muscovado equipment more efficient and standardizing production so that sugar farmers can ride on the growth of the industry. The PDAP Prime program, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, likewise wants to connect the farmer groups directly with the markets here and abroad so they can truly cash in on the burgeoning demand for this raw sugar.

The prospects for muscovado are sweet, indeed.