Address
Rua José Maria Marques, Acait, Dili, Timor-Leste
Opening Hours
Monday-Friday
08:30am-05:30pm
About Brand Timor
Brand Timor: The Taste and Texture of a Nation, Grown by Hand, Crafted by Women, Ready for the World.
From coconut groves along the coast to vanilla vines in the highlands and cocoa growing in the shade of ancient trees, Brand Timor turns the natural wealth of Timor-Leste into products of genuine quality, authenticity, and purpose.
Introduction
What if a coconut husk once burned as waste, a cocoa pod grown in mountain shade, and a hand-pollinated vanilla vine could each become a livelihood, and a brand the world takes notice of? That is Brand Timor.
Brand Timor is the unified identity behind every coconut, cocoa, and vanilla product sold through the ARTSS Centre. It exists to position Timor-Leste’s natural resources, long overlooked or undervalued, as premium, authentic, and sustainable goods ready for local consumers, tourists, and the wider ASEAN market.
Developed by AEMTL under the ARTSS Centre, Brand Timor focuses on transforming three of Timor-Leste’s most abundant natural resources, coconut, cocoa, and vanilla, into high-quality, market-ready products, while strengthening the skills, businesses, and livelihoods of the farmers and women entrepreneurs behind them.
Looking for more of what Timor-Leste has to offer? Brand Timor is only part of the collection, discover TAIS, coffee, and more on our Souvenirs & Official Gifting page.
Supported by the Agroforestry Skills for Employment and Resilience Programme
Brand Timor is developed with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), through the Agroforestry Skills for Employment and Resilience Programme in Timor-Leste, a four-year initiative (2023 to 2027) funded by the European Union (EU).
The Programme was designed to promote green and sustainable economic diversification in Timor-Leste, following intensive research and consultation that identified coconut, cocoa, and vanilla as the country’s strongest opportunities for inclusive employment and commercial growth, particularly for women and youth. Through this Programme, thousands of Timorese producers are gaining practical skills in cultivation, processing, product design, quality standards, packaging, and access to markets, skills that now flow directly into the products found at the ARTSS Centre.
Three Value Chains, One Identity
Coconut Fiber
Timor-Leste’s coastlines are home to an abundance of coconut palms, a resource that, for generations, offered little beyond household use, its fibrous husk routinely discarded or burned. Through Brand Timor, that overlooked husk is being transformed by hand into coir bags, hats, home décor, and fashion accessories, alongside virgin coconut oil and other coconut derivatives, turning what was once waste into wearable, sellable craftsmanship.
Cocoa
Timorese cocoa is gaining recognition for its exceptional single-origin quality, producing chocolate and cocoa products with distinctive flavors shaped by Timor-Leste’s unique terroir and rich agricultural heritage.
Vanilla
Cultivated in municipalities including Aileu, Liquiçá, Dili, and Ermera, Timorese vanilla is prized for its rich aroma and premium quality, ideal for vanilla essence and oil, and increasingly recognized on the regional stage.
From Waste to Worth: A Story from Baucau
In April 2026, twenty-five women from Baucau, Viqueque, and Lautem gathered at the CDC Baucau Training Centre for a course in coconut coir prototyping and production, organized by AEMTL under the Agroforestry Skills Programme. Among them was Maria Marcelina, who had spent her whole life surrounded by coconut trees in Baucau, watching the fibrous husks around her discarded as waste.
That changed during the training. Maria and her fellow participants learned to transform coconut husks into bags, hats, and fashion and home accessories, turning a material once thrown away into products people wanted to buy. “My background in biology made me see waste differently, not as something to throw away, but as something with potential,” she reflected, describing how the idea of a circular economy resonated with her own values.
For fellow trainee Terezinha da Silva Guterres, the training opened a door she had never imagined: coconut, once known only as food and cooking fuel, revealed itself as a source of income, innovation, and pride. By the end of the Programme, 420 women across Timor-Leste are expected to complete similar training, gaining not only technical production skills, but also knowledge in product design, marketing, business management, and access to buyers.
Their story is Brand Timor in practice: local resources, once overlooked, becoming livelihoods in the hands of Timorese women.
Want to read their full journeys? Meet Maria and Terezinha on our Impact Stories.
A Foundation of Scale and Opportunity
Coconut alone represents a significant national resource: Timor-Leste produces an estimated 30,000 tons of coconut per year across some 12,000 hectares, cultivated by more than 16,000 farming families. Much of this potential remains untapped, with international markets across the ASEAN region, Australia, and Europe still largely unexplored for coconut derivatives such as coco peat and coconut-based fashion and home goods.
This is the opportunity Brand Timor exists to unlock: helping Timorese producers move beyond raw commodity sales toward higher-value, branded, market-ready products, supported by training, quality standards, and direct connections to buyers, both at home and across the region.
Why It Matters
As Timor-Leste moves toward ASEAN accession, the opportunity for Brand Timor products to reach a wider regional market continues to grow. Every coconut bag, every bar of single-origin chocolate, every bottle of vanilla oil sold through the ARTSS Centre carries with it the skill of a Timorese woman, the richness of Timorese land, and a growing brand built on authenticity rather than imitation.
“Brand Timor is about discovering the value of what already exists in our country, from cocoa, coconut, and vanilla to our cultural heritage, and transforming them into opportunities for our communities and future generations.” — AEMTL
“This is a big market that we can tap into, but it requires practical skills and knowledge. Timor-Leste has strong potential in coconut production, and as we move towards ASEAN accession, we will have access to a wider regional market for these products.”
— Hergui Luina Fernandes Alves, President of AEMTL
Supported By
The Brand Timor Initiative under the ARTSS Centre is supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO) through the Agroforestry Skills for Employment and Resilience Programme in Timor-Leste, funded by the European Union (EU).
