Let’s take a break for coffee

Remember when, in this side of the world, or at least in the ASEAN region, our coffee industry was more robust, thriving healthily such that we were exporting to our neighbors? Then, like our staple grain which is rice, coffee farming became relegated to the hinterlands that only small farmers tended. Maybe it was the onset of industrialization where coffee farmers sold out to the big property developers, preferring the instant windfall rather than wait out the periodic harvests. Maybe it was also the younger generation’s impatience with farming, having lost the zeal of their heritage and preferring instead to relocate to the cities and work for conglomerates.

Well, I think that the coffee industry is now on a slow rebound, and the Philippine Coffee Board is seeing more coffee trees again planted in the mountains of Kanlaon and Apo, and according to the indefatigable director of the Philippine Coffee Board, Ms. Chit Juan, new coffee plantations are now seen in the Cordilleras (Mountain Province and Benguet) as well. Hopefully, in the next two or three years, we will be seeing more harvests from these mountain ranges.  Finally, the farmers are listening—the demand for coffee is definitely increasing.

But what could deter these coffee farmers is the price, both domestic and global. Being a commodity affected by weather, certain conditions like the weather in Brazil, for instance, or a widespread disease like the coffee rust in Central America could depress or spike the prices. According to Ms. Juan, coffee prices in the Philippines remain stable and good, and prospects for export remain high especially for specialty coffee which is the green beans.

The Coffee Board is bullish about the green coffee beans because there is a definite demand for it.  Importers now specify what they want, and mostly it is the specialty single-origin coffee beans. It could be coffee from Benguet or the mountains of Davao, it could be the coffee beans from a certain altitude from Mount Kanlaon.  These are grade A or quality beans which the importers themselves will roast closest to the point of use. This is why the Philippine Coffee Board is working closely with the Department of Trade & Industry and CITEM to bring these specialty coffee beans to international specialty shows like the Winter Fancy Food Show in the United States, or the Dubai Gulf Food Fair, or the Foodex in Japan.  In shows like these, especially in Korea and Japan, micro roasters look for quality beans, not just the roasted ground coffee but the premium ones, and this is where the Philippine green coffee beans stand out.

There lies our niche.  However, for commercially-grown coffee, we are still in dire need of volume. Instant coffee manufacturers here still need to import big volumes every year.  Where the local consumption is around 100,000 metric tons, the specialty coffee only accounts for two to five percent of this volume. We import most of it from Indonesia and Vietnam now, but with the free trade integration looming ahead, the instant coffee makers can now import this coffee duty free.

Because of the recent calamities that wrought destruction in many of our islands in the south, the Department of Agriculture along with other government agencies are looking for sustainable development in these areas to help rebuild communities. These agencies have identified coffee as an important rebuilding tool and Ms. Juan shares that they have been approached by Land Bank, the DENR, Department of Agriculture and even the Dept. of Agrarian Reform to help in rebuilding these communities through the crop that is closest to their heart – coffee. This makes sense because the coffee tree lasts as long as 50 years and provides good watershed materials much needed in these areas that are often visited by typhoons and are prone to flooding. Coffee, cacao and rattan have thus been identified as excellent rebuilding tools for devastated communities.

Reckoning the total demand, we need to plant around eight million coffee trees, a daunting figure, but with the private sector (instant coffee producers) coming on board for the joint effort, together with the Dept. of Agriculture and the National Greening Program, we will hopefully get there. It is a long journey, but the Philippine Coffee Board, for its part, has committed 800,000 trees to be planted in the communities where they operate like in Sulu and in Negros. Their commitment is not just to plant these trees but to nurture and grow these trees until they are fruit-bearing and stable.

The most popular coffee variants are still the Robusta and the Arabica or our local Barako coffee beans.  It is the Robusta that is in demand for instant or granulated coffee.  As for the Arabica, Ms. Chit Juan proudly says that ours is the heirloom Arabica, not the hybrid one. This coffee bean has been with us from yesteryears, from the time that the Spaniards brought coffee to our land.  It is not hybrid, it is the pure, unaltered Arabica beans and they have thankfully remained that way.

Just recently, Ms. Juan narrates, they visited the Benguet State University where their group identified the “cultivars” of Arabica which they intend to showcase in specialty trade shows abroad. CITEM’s Development in Exports program has made it possible for the Coffee Board to buy raw specialty coffee beans from local farmers and bring these to the shows, because discriminating foreign coffee buyers wi ll definitely snub ground roasted coffee beans.

The Coffee Board says that by 2020, there will be a global deficit of about 32 million 60-kilo bags of coffee.  Maybe we do not have the quantity, but we certainly have the quality, so the prospects look good for export.  They are driving the farmers to” pick only the ripest red fruits because the ripest red cherries will give you the best coffee”, and the beans should be processed well for the export market.

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March 6 is a red-letter day for Women’s Business Council when they stage the 3rd Women’s Business Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Speakers like the father-daughter tandem of Jun and Carmi Palafox, Ines Reyes of Reyes Barbecue and others will talk about relevant issues like how women can succeed in business and be exemplars or good models of empowered women, how to balance career and family, and how the ASEAN economic integration impacts our communities. Prices range from P4,000 up, but special discounts await those who work in government, the academe or NGOs. And, oh yes, men are welcome to join this women’s summit.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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