Laguna revitalizes production of Rizal's favorite Robusta coffee

CABUYAO CITY, Laguna - Inspired by the historical account of Dr. Jose P. Rizal's favorite Robusta coffee some 130 years ago, the city government, in collaboration with various government agencies, revitalized its coffee production and processing to make it at par with the country's best "heritage" coffee.

Industry road map to boost production of Philippine coffee

MANILA - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is optimistic that the local production of coffee will increase and coffee products will be more globally competitive with the Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap 2017-2022, which was signed last month by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said the DTI is working closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to implement the coffee industry roadmap.

Under the five-year period roadmap, some 213,788 hectares of land is expected to be made available for coffee farming.  At the same time, the program is expected to bring about an increase in the average to one ton of coffee beans per hectare from the current 0.33 tons.

Coffee production at the end of the implementation of the roadmap is targeted at 214,626 metric tons (MT) from the current annual output of 37,000 MT, according to Lopez.  This would make the country's coffee self-sufficiency level increase to 161 percent from the current 41.6 percent level.

"We have to have a patriotic drive to encourage demand for Philippine coffee.  We are encouraging local producers to expand coffee production to create the demand," said Lopez.

The country produces four varieties of coffee -- the robusta, arabica, excelsa, and liberica, it was explained.

The DTI noted the huge local demand for coffee products.  The Philippines is the fifth largest consumer of coffee globally, behind the European Union, United States, Brazil, and Japan.  Domestic demand is expected to further increase driven by the growing consumption of coffee by the younger generation.

About 90 percent of coffee in the country is imported, which amounted to Php12-billion.  This made the country the fourth largest importer of coffee in the world.


Lopez also assured local coffee farmers that DTI has enabling mechanisms to support the industry.

"Through DTI's 7Ms (Mindset change, Mastery, Mentoring, Money, Machine, and Models), we will continue to provide enabling mechanisms to empower coffee farmers and help in addressing the challenges in the industry," the trade chief said.


Aside from coffee industry, other agribusiness sectors that completed their roadmaps include cacao and tablea, carrageenan, condiments, processed fruit, processed meat, and processed shrimp.

The DTI urges industries to craft their own roadmaps that will complement the country's Comprehensive National Industrial Strategy (CNIS), which aims to integrate manufacturing, agriculture, and services.

The industry roadmaps and the CNIS also seek to address gaps in the supply chain and link Philippine industries to the global value chain. [Kris Crismundo, PNA]

Philippine coffee industry is hot and brewing

While there is more work ahead for the coffee industry, there is palpable confidence among coffee stakeholders in the country.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - Kirstin Reyes worked for 7 years in Singapore where she began an affair with coffee.  When she returned to her home in Tuguegarao City in 2013, she roasted coffee and created her own coffee brand.  In 2014, she opened "Barako Boy," Tuguegarao's first coffee shop that sold specialty coffee at a low price.  Four years later, Barako Boy is thriving and well, frequented by regulars and walk-ins from a nearby hotel.

Reyes is among the 700 participants of the 3rd Philippine Coffee Conference held in March in Baguio City, organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).  All of the participants - whether engaged in coffee production, processing, trade, roasting or marketing - came from all over the country.  The huge turnout of participants, representing almost all of the regions in the country, illustrates the country's engagement with the bean.

The Philippines, which lies on the so-called "coffee belt," has favorable climatic conditions to grow all 4 varieties of coffee, namely Robusta, Arabica, Excelsa, and Liberica throughout the country.  The largest coffee producing regions in the country are based in Mindanao - Soccsksargen, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Davao.

A long history of coffee in the Philippines

The industry's rich albeit dramatic coffee history has witnessed the rise and fall of fortunes.  In the 19th century, the country was the world's leading exporter of Arabica coffee, until the 1890s, when the proliferation of coffee rust and other diseases totally decimated the crop.  The country rebounded by shifting to Robusta up the latter half of the 20th century but failed to recover its world leadership in the commodity.  In the 1990s, global coffee 2001 coffee crisis, the domestic industry, which has relied on smallholder producers, collapsed.

and yet optimism prevailed as demand for coffee increased with rising incomes.  By 2010, retailers were making the most of the Filipino's need for the brew.  According to a study conducted by Washington-based Duke Center for Global Value Chains, the decade saw the proliferation of a younger generation of Filipinos preferring to consume convenient instant coffee to get their daily dose of caffeine.  

Meanwhile, wealthier Filipinos, particularly in the urban areas, supported the emergence of a specialty coffee sector, hence, the proliferation of brands such as Starbucks, UCC, and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, as well as small local coffee shops.

Local demand bodes well for the coffee industry

The increase in local demand for coffee has prompted coffee stakeholders to get their act together.  To focus efforts on revitalizing the industry, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol approved the Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap (2017-2022), a product of more than 3 years of organizing the sector.

At the 3rd Philippine Coffee Conference, Senator Cynthia Villar discussed the convergence of various government agencies including the Philippine Coconut Authority, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of Agrarian Reform in supporting coffee production.  

Agriculture Undersecretary Evelyn Lavina presented various programs being implemented with the support of various universities and private sector partners.  Secretary Lopez talked about coffee as a priority of his department's industry clustering program, to ensure markets and market readiness for Philippine products.

Efforts are slowly paying off.  In terms of quality, Philippine coffee is reaping international awards for taste.  One sterling example is Bana's coffee, a single-origin brand from Sagada, which was awarded the Medaille Gourmet at the International Contest for Coffees Roasted in their Countries of Origin organized by the Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural products in Paris, France.

While there is more work ahead for the coffee industry, there is palpable confidence among coffee stakeholders in the country.  Conference participants share animated conversations over cups of the country's best coffees.

Big traders raffle off prizes - expensive coffee equipment - and everyone roots for the farmer who wins a depulper or a barista who wins a complete set of tools.  

At the 3rd Philippine Coffee Conference, coffee as an industry is hot and brewing. [Precious Leano, Rappler.com]

Baguio hosts 3rd Philippine coffee conference

COFFEE industry stakeholders from various parts of the country are set to convene in Baguio City on March 20 to 21 for the 3rd Philippine Coffee Conference to forward the goals set for the Philippine Coffee Roadmap 2022 that aims to attain self-sufficiency and global competitiveness.

The two-day conference set at Hotel Supreme will be spearheaded by Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez as chair and vice-chair of the Philippine Coffee Council, respectively, along with private sector co-chairpersons Nestle Philippines vice president for Corporate Affairs Ruth Novales and Bo's Coffee CEO Steve Benitez.

The conference will feature presentation of the industry performance report on the first year of the implementation of the Philippine Coffee Roadmap and share and transfer of relevant knowledge and trends aligned with the roadmap's strategic objectives, among others.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Cordillera Director Myrna Pablo, in a Kapihan media forum for the launching of the 2018 Philippine Coffee Conference at the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Office, outlined the importance of such event in pushing for the country's goal to increase production of such event in pushing for the country's goal to increase production toward sufficiency, as well as to boost the country's coffee products toward global competitiveness.

Pablo said the country may not be a big player in terms of coffee production but it ranks fifth as top coffee consumers and ranks number one in importing soluble coffee.  "This makes it more important that we push for the attainment of the Philippine Coffee Roadmap," she said.

The Philippine coffee products can easily compete internationally such as the highland coffee varieties available in Cordillera, which is why the DA and DTI and their private partners are continuously focusing on increasing productivity and product development/value adding, Pablo said.

DA-Cordillera Technical Director Cameron Odsey, who is in-charge of the High-Value Commercial Crops Development Program, affirmed the high potential of the country's coffee industry, which is why the agriculture department is continuously investing especially in production, primarily to meet the local demand by encouraging Cordillerans into backyard coffee planting and farmers to multi-cropping or to plant coffee between their crops.

DA-Cordillera RTD for Operations Danilo Daguio said different local government units in the region have around P500-million project proposals for coffee production development and that the DA has 44 approved project proposals from Cordillera under the Philippine Rural Development Program which prime commodity is coffee.

DA and DTI officials were joined by private partners -- Cordillera Regional Coffee Council chair Oliver Oliem, Goldfish Brew owner Gemma Ngelangel, Tuba Benguet Coffee Growers Association President Shirley Palao-ay and Trentwoods Plant Nursery representative Charles Matnao who expressed their support to the potentials of the coffee industry. [Sunstar]

Maramag coffee's bittersweet tale of revival

Lilibeth Galendez

BUKIDNON, Philippines (12 Nov 2017) - At the sight of the bountiful green coffee berries, the visitors from the north who were mostly coffee growers, could not believe their eyes.  They could not seem to grasp how coffee trees grow so low and yet bear so much fruit.

What they saw was the coffee farm of Kagawad Cornelio Iraya, Jr. in Barangay Bagong Silang in Maramag, this province.  It's located at the foot of Kalatungan Mountain Range that is sitting 1,200 feet above sea level.  Iraya, who is also a member of Kape Maramag, related that his coffee Robusta are mostly 35 to 40 years old, yet still bear bountiful yield.

The visitors who were mostly coffee growers from as far as the Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, T'boli, Quezon City, Davao City and General Santos City, were part of the learning exchange sponsored by the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) in October.  Earlier on, they attended the Coffee Summit held in Davao City.

As Kagawad Iraya explained in his broken Filipino the processes that produced the three to four foot coffee "hills" sprawled all over his 12-hectare plantation, all the guests listened intently.  The gathering of fog that lent a colder atmosphere in the surroundings was not even noticed by the participants who were as focused as their hosts who seemed animated in his explanation.

Totally amazed at the scene of bountiful yield surrounding him, Arnold Melicor, a coffee farmer from Hinlu Coffee in Ifugao wanted to learn the farm technique being applied by Kagawad Iraya.  His companion Roland agreed and said the problem of coffee growing in their area is that their location is "prone to typhoon" and what he saw gave him hope that shorter coffee hills is the solution to their problems.

He was also grateful to the PEF for the opportunity that brought him to Maramag and saw for himself how coffee farmers managed their farms in this region.

The product of long years of experimentation in his farm, Iraya explained to his visitors that what they saw were results of painstaking work in his coffee farm, including ridicules and mockery he earned from other people who did not believe in what he was doing at the outset.

Some people who saw him cutting his young coffee plants would mock him saying "poor coffee, so young still but you already cut them!"  They would say so in laughter.  But, after a while, the same people were astounded when they saw that the same coffee plant bore the equivalent of three kilos of green coffee beans.

This technique has been adopted by the rest of the members of Kape Maramag who were mostly enjoying the support of their organization under the Rural Improvement Club Federation of Maramag (RICFM).

However, it took some time before the farmers in this region have reclaimed their love for producing coffee.

Coming back with 'vengeance'

Few years back, the coffee industry in Maramag was almost dying after coffee farmers could not even sell their produce to local traders.  Lilibeth Galendez, the energetic vice president of Kape Maramag who took some visitors to see how they grew and processed their coffee Robusta and Arabica, related that they were almost giving up, and then their coffee farms were given a perk.

In 2012, the Department of Agriculture-High Value Crops Development Program (DA-HVCDP), declared to establish a coffee roasting facility in the municipality, through the Rural Improvement Club (RIC) Federation of Maramag, the mother organization of Kape Maramag, as part of its initiative in reviving the coffee industry in the region.

The facility contained a coffee roasting system, commercial grade coffee grinder, foot sealer, cutter, weighing scale, and foil for packaging, which was granted by the DA-HVCDP, in collaboration with Kaanib Foundation.

Initially, the Federation was composed of 1,050 members, most of whom have been engaged into coffee farming and production of other agricultural crops from the 20 barangays in the municipality.

Galendez and other officers of the federation also went through a "training of trainors" on coffee production, initiated by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), and even became one of the Philippine delegates to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) training course on intensive cultivation technique of coffee held in Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong, Vietnam in 2013.

Thus, with the brand name "Kape Maramag," the federation started their business operations on coffee roasting, grinding and brewing in April 2012 with only a hundred kilograms of coffee beans, said Galendez.

A year later, the facility had already processed a total of 1,271.10 kilograms of coffee beans.

With only a starting capital of P11,500, Galendez said "Kape Maramag" had grossed a total of P297,039.90 in the same year.  It was said that the coffee blends they were producing sold at P350 per kilogram, while its 250, 100, and 50-gram packs have been sold at P125, P55, and P27, respectively, up until at present.

Pruning and coffee rejuvenation

The technique adopted by Iraya and the rest of the 300 members of Kape Maramag in sustainable farming practice is not a new one, but is actually being practiced in other regions and countries,though it was only in recent years that the coffee growers in Maramag have started doing it.

Moreover, an extensive study showed that rejuvenated 40-year old Robusta trees can still give, in less than two years, yield comparable to the newly established coffee plantation.  A hectare of old, tall trees gives a yield of 0.3-1.5 tons green beans per year, while a hectare of rejuvenated coffee plantation gives a yield of 1-3 tons green beans per year.

This is what the coffee growers from the north have learned from their exposure among coffee growers in Kape Maramag.  In essence, it has also achieved for PEF, in its learning events the ultimate aim of this activity of "bringing opportunities for collaboration across the value chain of C4 agri-enterprises."

Towards the day's end, participants to the learning event have surfaced and shared what they thought about the exercise and the brief experience with Kape Maramag farmers.  Some of them also shared their own experiences with pruning and rejuvenation, like the one shared by Jennifer Rimando of Aguid, Sagada, Mt. Province, who said that the learning event have opened windows of possibilities for participants who wanted to know about other practices in sustainable coffee farming.

Thus, even when heavy downpour have ended, the learning session, most of the participants were in high spirits and undaunted, refusing to let the weather dampen the contentment they felt, as they left Maramag and headed towards Davao City.  [Fides Avellanosa, Davao Today.com]





  

KAPE MARAMAG wins Best Robusta in 1st Kape Pilipino Green Coffee Quality Competition

Bukidnon coffee topped the country's first ever "cupping" competition held at the Cavite State University from March 1 to 4, 2017.


The Inhandig Tribal Multipurpose Cooperative (ITMPC) of Malaybalay City won this year's Kape Pilipino Green Coffee Quality Competition in the Arabica category, while Kape Maramag won in the Robusta category. Kape Maramag sources its robusta coffee from the Eraya coffee farm.

Philippine Coffee: A Sip of Excellence

"Coffee is the source of happiness and wit," said King Louis XIV, who, after experiencing coffee's excellent taste and distinctive aroma, began to recognize the value of it.

How can the Philippines be a top coffee exporter again?

Clockwise from left: Chit Juan, Philippine Coffee Board president, Hubert U. Young of UCC Cafe, Steve Benitez of Bo's Coffee, Alfredo Yao of Zest-O juice, RC Cola and PCCI, Prof Dr. Xu Kecheng of Fuda Hospital, Atty. Ricardo Blancaflor of IPO Philippines, Adolfo L. Escalona

What are the future prospects of Philippine coffee exports, and the situation of this commodity which is the world's second most heavily traded next only to oil?

Coffee production in the Philippines

Coffee production in the Philippines began as early as 1740 when the Spanish introduced coffee in the islands.  It was once a major industry in the Philippines, which 200 years ago was the fourth largest coffee producing nation.

As of 2014, the Philippines produces 25,000 metric tons of coffee, and is ranked 110th in terms of output.  However, local demand for coffee is high, with 100,000 metric tons of coffee consumed in the country per year.

BASILIO, inventor of KAPE Iligan's coffee roaster

"I live with the man who once said to me, 'I hope you wouldn't mind if I hold hands with a multitude of people.'  I confess it's not easy.  Nor did I expect that I too would hold hands with the very same people.  This is Basil's story."

Thus, Vie Cesar Reyes describes her spouse, Carlos Basilio Victor Osorio Reyes, the Filipino inventor who made KAPE Iligan's coffee roaster.

KAPE Iligan now available at Robinson's Place-Iligan

Are you looking for freshly roasted coffee beans whose aroma you can surely smell before you open its package?

KAPE Iligan is now available at the HOMETOWN PASALUBONG CENTER, at the 2nd Floor of the Robinson's Place-Iligan.  This was announced Sunday by Iligan Agri-Rainbow Producers Cooperative chairman, Arturo R. Diasanta.

Picked from organically grown highland coffee trees, KAPE Iligan comes in three packs:  Fine Robusta, Specialty Arabica, and Premium Blend.