Just like butter, this plant-based spread is great on warm pandesal

Calling all vegetarians, vegans, lactose-intolerant people, and everybody else who haven't been able to partake in that beautiful Filipino food exercise of spreading butter on warm pandesal — and then having coffee to go with it, ahh — because of health choices, check out this coconut spread from Sagana.

It's like butter, except it's completely dairy-free. Witness: It's made with 81% coconut oil, 15% water, and 1.5% salt. When thawed correctly, spreading it on pandesal — or toast, if you're into that — and biting into it can feel like such an indulgence even if it's actually healthier for you. 

Vegan butters aren't new. In fact, there are plenty other vegan butters in the market that give the same experience as butter, but what sets Sagana apart is just how malinamnam it is compared to others we've tried. Just a thin spread and it already tastes so indulgent.

Thankfully, unlike most vegan butter that feature hydrogenated vegetable oils, Sagana boasts of being made from a single kind of vegetable oil, that is non-hydrogenated coconut oil. It has zero transfat and contains Lauric acid, which it claims should improve the immune system.

Ah but a caveat: You can't just take it out of the fridge and expect an easy time spreading over your pandesal, or baking or cooking with it. The coconut spread is 81% pure coconut oil, so you gotta let it thaw for at least 20 minutes at room temp before using it.

Because it's pure coconut oil, you need to let the spread thaw for at least 20 minutes in room temp. to soften it like this

Sagana is a Swiss-Filipino social enterprise that works with small-scale farmers and cooperatives that strive to abide by sustainable practices. The coconut spread is its first product, which they happily shared in a press statement, takes 70% less water to produce and emits up to 50% less carbon dioxide in the process, compared to producing dairy butter.

So that's like spreading goodness in a myriad of ways. — LA, GMA News

Sagana coconut spread (P255) is available in select specialty grocery and online.