“What is your coffee culture and where is it heading?”

It was a question that Victor Mah, President of the ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF), posed to everyone at ACF’s 2nd Board Meeting. He particularly mentioned Philippines, Myanmar, and Vietnam because the three countries can boast of their centuries-old tradition of growing and consuming coffee.

In the Philippines, coffee has a history as rich as its flavor. In the 1800s, Barako commanded five times the price of other Asian coffee beans as we became the fourth largest exporter.

Today, Filipino coffee consumption far outweighs production. Vietnam produces thousands of metric tons that are enough to supply the global demand while Myanmar was recently hailed as Asia’s newest origin of specialty coffee. Fortunately, there are still various places in the Philippines where coffee has gone through the proper process from seed to cup. The constant challenge is how to make coffee production sustainable which will also make it profitable.

The Ultimate Coffee Guide‘s articles unravels the Philippines’ coffee journey as we discover more about where we are and where our coffee culture is headed.

Photos by Ros Juan and PCBI