Homegrown coffeeshop chain taps local farmers

CEBU, Philippines - Homegrown coffeeshop chain Coffee Dream will be tapping coffee farmers in Asturias, Tuboran and Balamban in its bid to help the Philippine coffee industry.

The company is currently sourcing its coffee bean requirement from coffee farms in Cavite and Mount Apo, among others.

Coffee Dream President Glenn O. Soco said partnering with farmers and encouraging them to plant more coffee in the fertile farmlands around Cebu province, would not only lessen the cost of sourcing coffee bean, but will also help the country’s bid to regain its position as the third largest coffee producer in the world in the 1960s.

The Coffee Dream chain is composed of 38 branches across the country, 13 of which are managed by franchisees. Soco said Coffee Dream is planning to open about five outlets by 2015 and expand its commissary with a projected investment of P15 million.

He said the coffee drinking market in the Philippines is not yet saturated. Seventy percent of the Filipino population are coffee drinkers, and despite the entry of international brands, only 20 percent is captured by the gourmet coffee market.

Soco said that while the evolving social “coffee drinking” has practically crept into the lifestyle of people, the coffeeshop business still has room for growth despite the tough competition.

Unlike in the Western culture, coffee drinking lifestyle in the Philippines has evolved into something that has become a “third-place” for people who wants to relax, socialize and transact business, among others.

The early years of coffee drinking evolution in the Philippines only attracted the discriminating middle to high-end market segment. Today, all market-spectrum has already adopted the lifestyle, which helped the coffeeshop businesses thrive in the country.

Annually, Coffee Dream posts an average revenue growth of 20 percent, an indication that the business continued to grow despite challenges in the economy.

Coffee Dream was established in 1996 and now has presence in Cagayan de Oro, Metro Manila, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao and General Santos.

The Philippines only produces 25,000 MT of coffee yearly.

The country imports some 100,000 metric tons (MT) of coffee beans worth P10 billion annually mainly from Vietnam.

Philippine Coffee Board Chairman Nicholas Matti said it is eyeing to seek multi-sectoral support to establish an agriculture model in the country similar to that of Vietnam.

The Philippines produced four variety of coffee beans, these are the commercially-viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica (Barako), Excelsa and Robusta. Climatic and soil conditions in the Philippines – from the lowland to mountain regions – make the country suitable for all four varieties.

Soco said his company will actively participate in the promotion of coffee farming development in the country, not just through sourcing 100 percent of its coffee bean requirement from local farmers, but also directly doing partnership programs with coffee growers. — Ehda M. Dagooc (FREEMAN)