ENFE was started by Liezl Tomter and her Norwegian husband, Bjorn Tomter as a backyard business in May, 2001. The production facility was just half of a small apartment in the town of Pavia, Iloilo, Philippines. The first product was instant ginger tea under the brand name Healtea. In Norway Bjorn was able to enter the product in the major health food franchises in Norway in September 2001. Healtea was quickly approved since no such products existed in this market. This was truly fortunate, as getting products accepted in the health food market is generally a long process. So they started exporting to Norway and their ginger tea was eventually distributed to most of the health food stores. In 2002 the couple was able to purchase their own lot outside town, and transferred the production facility to their newly constructed house, where they also lived. In the end of 2007 the company expanded its products to virgin coconut oil. In 2011 ENFE became a member of POPA (Panay Organic Producers Association), an advocacy group for organic and environmentally sound food production principles. In 2013 the company was approved as client under “SETUP” (Small Enterprise Technological Upgrading Program) of DOST (Department of Science and Technology). The program included technical training and consultation as well as financing of needed production equipment. Through this program the company was able to increase its production capacity and product line, and thereby expanding the market to Japan and USA for virgin coconut oil in 2013 to 2015. Attention was also given to domestic sales (Philippines), recognizing its great market potential with a population of more than 100 million. In 2016 the Healtea line was expanded to 11 variants that now were distributed together with coconut products in the main supermarkets and other food outlets, including Iloilo Supermart, SM Supermarkets, SaveMore, SM Hypermart in Panay. In September 2016 the company was enrolled in the Ripples Plus program of DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), with the purpose of improving its business model and strengthening its competitiveness. This is the first company in region VI (Western Visayas) to qualify for such enrollment. In 2017 the market was expanded to two online stores: Tea & Coffee Depot and oneStore.ph, making the products available nationwide. Lately the products also entered SM City Bacolod, and the 5 major SM supermarkets in Cebu. For exports Scandinavia is now the main target, and ENFE joined an OBM (Outbound Business Mission) organized by DTI to Sweden and Norway in October 2017. Several contacts were established and will be followed up by another visit in January 2018.