Mindanao being eyed as new coffee hub

MANILA, Philippines - The celebration of Philippine coffee’s excellent taste and quality is brewing not just in Metro Manila but around the country this October, declared by former President Fidel Ramos as coffee month. 

Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) president Chit Juan said that after 12 years of celebrating Coffee Origins, a yearly celebration of Philippine coffee, in Makati City, PCBI will be going to Davao. 

PCBI, owners of the Kape Isla brand, will celebrate from October 13 to October 17 the yearly coffee celebration at Abreeza Mall, an Ayala-owned property in the south. 

Juan said that back in 1997, even before the PCBI was born, Ayala Malls already supported the coffee events.  

Since then, she said, the festival was held in Glorietta or Greenbelt Malls – free coffee is served for the duration of the event. And not just a cup of coffee. 

“There was a time we served 11,000 cups in one month... all for free” Juan said. “Consumers from Cordillera to Jolo have already been educated in the different tastes of coffee,” she added. 

They have also shaped the palate of today’s consumers to be more discerning about coffee blends, flavors and origins, Juan said.

In the Philippines, Juan said, about 21 million cups of coffee are consumed ever year but the country remains a net importers. 

“The efforts of all coffee advocates like PCBI, Nestle and NGOs have kept our production levels even if not decreasing” Juan said.

However, she said that advocates and stakeholders continue to promote coffee farming especially in Mindanao to help boost coffee production in the country.

The industry estimates that coffee imports still amount to about 75,000 metric tons annually, costing the country about P6 billion in imports. 

“This amount could very well go to Filipino coffee farmers..whose age is increasing at 67 years old and farm lots are decreasing in the Calabarzon area, due to urban development,” Juan also said.

For his part, PCBI chairman Nicholas A. Matti said Mindanao is now being promoted as the land of promise for coffee. 

“The land is virgin, cheaper than in Luzon and there are many mountains waiting to be planted to coffee,” she said.

.Davao has Mt. Apo, Cotabato has Mt. Matutum and Bukidnon has Mt. Kitanglad. All these mountains have elevations favorable for coffee growing. It is estimated that farmers need to plant eight million seedlings to address the present domestic demand for coffee, according to PCBI. 

Toward this end, PCBI urged government financial institutions such as state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines to create bank products that will cater to coffee farmers, processors and even coffee shop operators.

The 7th National Coffee Summit , which engages the coffee stakeholders, will also be held in Davao this October 15, 2014 at SEDA Hotel in cooperation with the Peace and Equity Foundation (www.pef.ph), another NGO whose main focus is coffee, cacao, coconut, cane sugar and climate-smart agriculture, the PCBI said.

“There is much demand, and no supply. We hope we can engage the farmers to continue or to start coffee growing,” he said.