CÓCOES Organic Coconut Flower Aminos Teriyaki has won Best Food Product in the Sauces & Condiments category at the 2025 KATHA Awards for Food. It is a proud moment for a soy-free teriyaki sauce that starts its life as sap from coconut flowers, and for the farmers and food makers behind it.

A bottle with a story behind it

Most sauces on a supermarket shelf can tell you what is inside. Fewer can tell you who tapped the palm it came from. CÓCOES was built around that second question. Every bottle traces back to Lionheart Farms, a Philippine company established in 2015 that grows, processes, and bottles its own coconut flower sap products. The label says it plainly: lovingly made in our own factory, using produce from our own farm in Palawan.

So when the KATHA Awards named our teriyaki the best in its category, the credit went well beyond the kitchen. It belongs to the whole chain, from the palms to the processing plant.

What is coconut flower aminos teriyaki?

Coconut aminos is a savory, lightly sweet seasoning made from the sap of coconut flowers. Many home cooks use it where they would normally reach for soy sauce. It adds depth to a dish without a strong, sharp saltiness.

Teriyaki takes that base and turns it into a glossy, sweet-savory sauce. Brush it on grilled chicken or fish, stir it through noodles and vegetables, or use it as a quick marinade on a busy weeknight. It is the kind of bottle that makes an ordinary dinner feel planned.

What goes into the bottle

The ingredient list is short: organic coconut flower sap, salt, organic garlic powder, and organic ginger powder. There is no MSG, no preservatives, no synthetic colors, and no added table sugar. Because it is made from coconut sap instead of soybeans, it is soy-free, and the award entry notes that its sodium is significantly lower than conventional teriyaki sauces.

Per one-tablespoon (15 ml) serving, the label shows 25 calories, 300 mg of sodium and 5 g of sugar, none of it added. Use it for marinating, stir-frying, as a table sauce, or poured over rice. It comes in a 250 ml glass bottle and retails at PHP 295.00.

From the palm to the pantry

The sap is where it begins. Coconut flower sap is a natural source of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, and it is a renewable resource when tapped with care. Lionheart Farms has planted hundreds of thousands of palms in partnership with an indigenous community, works with local farmers through a partner farming program, and has expanded organic farm certification in Alabat, Quezon. The garlic and ginger come from partner organic farms, under sourcing protocols meant to ensure fair compensation.

Because the company keeps its own laboratories and processing plants next to its farms, it can develop products from the ground up. For the teriyaki, that meant a proprietary fermentation process to build umami depth, and an aging technique to give it an authentic teriyaki character, all without artificial enhancers. The processing facility is BRCGS A+ rated, a global food safety standard.

Certified, clean and plant-based

The bottle carries the USDA Organic and EU Organic marks, with certification by Bioagricert. It is also non-GMO, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan-friendly. For shoppers who read labels closely, that is a short list of things to worry about.

Good for the people and the planet

CÓCOES is tied to a cause the team calls CÓCAUSE: transforming lives, one sip at a time. According to the award entry, the brand supports more than 2,000 farming families, with a 2- to 3-fold increase in farmer income, plus a skills development program and women empowerment initiatives.

On the environmental side, the entry lists reduced water use in production, carbon-reduction initiatives across the supply chain, mostly recyclable glass bottles, recycled paper for gift-pack packaging, and processing powered in part by bio-agricultural waste. The brand also took the Favorite Prize at SIAL For Change in Paris in 2024.

What this award means

Awards do not make a sauce taste better. What they do is point more people toward the work that went into it. For a brand built on fair livelihoods for farmers and food made from a renewable crop, that attention matters.

We are grateful to the KATHA Awards for the recognition, and to every farmer, technician, and teammate who had a hand in this bottle.

Try CÓCOES Teriyaki

Curious about the sauce that took home the title? Look for CÓCOES Organic Coconut Flower Aminos Teriyaki, and learn more at cocoes.com. Bring a little coconut flower aminos into your next meal.