October 2007 – Seven new technologies were demonstrated to villagers on northwest Ambae in Vanuatu over a five day period in October. The demonstrations were held for 3-4 hours each day and attended by villagers from the village of Lovutialao and four nearby villages. The purpose of the demonstrations was to; explain and demonstrate the technologies, field test them, provide the villagers a chance to try them out, and see whether they thought they would be useful to them. More … and videos.

February 2007 – After several months of trials, TropicTech has developed a method for producing its hand-operated coconut press using a small scale casting system appropriate for use in remote rural communities.  This approach will result in two advantages; local value-adding and an affordable price of $70-80.

September 2006 – TropicTech has developed a small scale continuous-process, hand-operated coconut oil press that is capable of yielding 90% of the oil from fresh or dried coconut meat. The press is designed for household production of two liters of oil per hour, but may easily be scaled up for larger quantities.

August 2006 – A unique and propriety method for the separation of coconut oil from fresh coconut cream was tested successfully under natural conditions on Oahu, Hawaii.  No electricity, specialized equipment or heating is required to produce the oil.  The method is simple, inexpensive and ideal for small scale – even household scale – production of high quality coconut oil.

November 2005 – As a result of a two week visit
to remote coastal villages on Northwest Ambae
Island, close contact was established with six
communities that have agreed to work with
TropicTech as pilot project communities for the
introduction of micro-enterprises and related
technologies. Direct feedback from a wide sample
of villagers, including men and women of all ages,
and the team’s own observations, have led to
adaptations in enterprise and technology design.
(photos of the trip)

May 2005 – During a three week fact finding visit to Vanuatu, Dale Hampshire established several key contacts in the public and private sectors. meetings with the Minister of Finance, Minister of Energy, two Members of Parliament representing remote communities and others revealed a great interest in small scale coconut oil technology and its implications for sustained rural development.