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]
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]
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.
