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?

Lipa City of Batangas was once a famous coffee exporter in the late 19th century.  In 1880, the Philippines was the world's fourth biggest exporter of coffee beans, and when the coffee rust hit Brazil, Africa, and Java, we became the only source of coffee beans worldwide.

Lipa City, then, became very rich.  This boom era of the Philippine coffee industry lasted until 1889, when coffee rust hit the Philippines.

Today, the Philippines produces 25,000 metric tons or 25 million kilos of coffee, and ran 110th in the world in terms of output, but we consume almost 100,000 metric tons a year.  

What can government and the private sector do to drastically improve production, processing and exports of Philippine coffee?

Which countries are the world's biggest coffee exporters now?  Undisputed No. 1 is Brazil.  No. 2 is our ASEAN neighbor and also tea-producing Vietnam, No. 3 is a tossup between Colombia and Mexico, while No. 5 is our ASEAN neighbor Indonesia, where we also source the popular Kopiko instant coffee.

The Philippine Coffee Board, Inc., is working to promote Philippine coffee growing and exports, led by its chairman Nicholas "Nicky" A. Matti of Negros Occidental and with Pacita "Chit" U. Juan as its co-chairman and president.  Chit Juan now owns Commune Cafe in Makati, which is managed by her niece Rosario Juan, and was also founder and former CEO of the Figaro coffee shop chain.

Where are the best coffee beans produced in the Philippines?  Philippine STAR reader and the award-winning Salay Handmade Paper Industries founder Loreta Capistrano Rafisura of Salay municipality, Misamis Oriental, told me that Vie C. Reyes and Basil O. Reyes are the country's first fair-trade producers of high-quality and high-end Coffee Alamid.

Nicky Matti and Chit Juan said the best Philippine coffee beans are produced in Benguet province, Matutum of South Cotabato, Kitanglad in Bukidnon, Mout Apo in Davao, and Kanlaon in Negros isle.

When can the Philippines achieve coffee self-sufficiency?  Ever an optimist, Chit Juan says by year 2020 is possible; Matti says he is a realist and thinks maybe in 2015.

What urgent reforms and support are needed to achieve this goal?

Success secrets of top coffee entrepreneurs, biggest coffee shop chains

What are the biggest shop chains in the Philippines now?  Some coffee traders told me, No. 1 is Starbucks with over 200 branches.  No. 2 is Bo's Coffee from Cebu, owned by award-winning entrepreneur Steve Delantar Benitez with about 60 branches, No. 3 is Figaro chain with about 60 branches, No. 4 is Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, while possible No. 5 is UCC Cafe with 24 outlets and led by entrepreneur Hubert Uytengsu Young.

Among the success factors of Bo's Coffee chain by Steve Benitez are his passion, his imagination, his focus on his main core business and learning to decisively say "no" to distractions, his being socially responsible, being open-minded, dynamic in thinking, and his humility.

Although the son of General Milling Corporation chairman George K. Young and also from the Uytengsu clan, Hubert is very entrepreneurial and has set up his own businesses.  Friends say that he is successful because of his commitment to high quality, his attention to detail, his hard work, innovative spirit and being open to new ideas. [Wilson Lee Flores, BULL MARKET, BULL SHEET, The Philippine Star]